Take a hat

Whoosh  - the Shanghai Express flying by First footfalls in the Olympic Park - February 2012 We missed out on Track Cycling Tickets for the Olympics, shame, but we did manage to get a couple of tickets to the Test Event. At £40 a pop, just for qualifying heats, they were not cheap but it seemed like a nice thing to do and it would mean we would be first! Making the first impression - our seats We would be at the first event at the Olympic Park, the first event at the Velodrome, the first time anyone sat on seats 439 and 440 in Row 3 of Block 123. And they would be best seats in the house, well we thought so anyway! So cometh the day the two country bumpkins headed off for Stratford. Wonder how many foreign visitors will expect to see Ann Hathaway’s cottage? As it was an evening session, planned to finish at 22:30, we decided to avoid the Western Region trains. Taking the car we braved the M25 heading for Woodford to pick up the Central Line. The Woodford Car Park was £4

Grey and bitter in Bucks Frozen Black Lake - lets eat inside! Now, I don’t have a lot of willpower. Particularly when it comes to cycling on very cold days when temperatures are below zero.! However, it was Wednesday the day to meet up with the cycling team for a club run so I decided to get out there and be a bit sociable. The wind was bitterly cold as I headed towards Bourne End for the meet. So much so that my plan to take the easy flat route was abandoned and I headed for the steep Quarry Wood Hill – anything to generate a bit of warmth!  On arrival at the meeting point there were several familiar bikes outside, to be honest I had hoped that the others had opted for a day off. That would have allowed me to have a coffee, read the paper and head back home - after a decent interval of course. No such luck! A shortened route was planned to the Cafe at Black Park Country Park, Wexham.  Off we toddled across Burnham Beeches. Some of the roads were covered in sheet ice where the