England - Bike Tour - Dorchester, Dorset to Carbis Bay, St. Ives, Cornwall - May 2012

Day One - Dorchester to Beer  - 70km

Putting my foot in it - Overshoes needed this time!

Cycling the National Cycle Route, NCN 2, from Dorchester to Beer in May is becoming a bit like an annual migration. This year the weather was diabolical, low cloud and rain! TW dropped me off in Dorchester during a rainstorm, "are you sure you want to do this"?

2011 ride

2010 Ride

Lovely weather for cows

I could not even see Hardy's monument as I cycled past in the fog. It's quite a stiff climb up to his chimney and not seeing the top was probably an advantage. I was up there and on my way down through beautiful Dorset countryside before you could say Kiss Me Hardy! 

Visibility is down to nil and its getting worse!! You get used to the rain dripping off the helmet after a while and with lights on I pressed on through the gloom past Bridport and then dropped down to Charmouth and the coastal road through Lyme Regis. 

Grabbed a pastie in Lyme Regis and then ground on towards Seaton. I made the mistake of following the supposed route of Cycle Route 52 which turned out to be a waterlogged and muddy bridle path with gates to negotiate. Had to backtrack and return to the very foggy and frightening A-road. I was very much looking forward to a roof and my hot shower - that's if I made it to Beer!

Seaton on a Spring day!

Managed to avoid becoming road kill and booked in at the Youth Hostel in Beer, a substantial Manor House at the back of the town. A Touring Aussie Cricket Team, (The Reds), were in residence, they had been in the country for one and a half weeks but had only managed to play one and a half games due to the rotten weather. Despite the lack of overs they were staying cheerful and enjoying the grog. After my well deserved shower I headed for the Anchor Inn by the harbour for a gammon steak and a Guinness. My Aussie friends were in there watching football. Got wet yet again walking home during another deluge. My YHA dormitory only had one other occupant but he managed to make himself heard! 

Day Two - Beer to Bellever - 95km

Beer to Bellever

The weather was no better the next day as I headed off on NCN 2 which, very conveniently, passes the hostel. I had my first coffee and cake stop in Sidmouth just prior to the mega 'Tour of Britain' hill out of town. Had to walk for a bit but it was not too bad, don't think anyone saw me. At Exmouth it was really pouring with rain so, instead of taking the open ferry across to Starcross I headed up the Estuary towards Exeter and then back down the other side, into the wind, towards the Turf Hotel. The Turf, at the end of the Canal, is a definite favourite of mine. 

Over the top towards Chudleigh

After a dry lunch, coffee and a sandwich, it was time to head on towards Starcross on a very muddy track. From Starcross I took the right turn that would take me up towards Dartmoor. The route through Chudleigh and Bovey Tracey was tough, lots of climbing and head winds. I knew the ascent up Dartmoor to Haytor would be the hardest but I certainly was not ready for the wind that hit me near the top. It was ridiculous. Cycling was impossible. I had to push my bike into the cloud. If the Hound of the Baskervilles had appeared in front of me it would not have made the trip any worse. A rivulet was running towards me down the side of the road. It was a massive relief when, seemingly an age later, I crossed the 'continental divide' at the highest point and the water started to run downhill in the direction I was heading. The steep downhill ride to Widdecombe was not quite as rapid as normal as the headwind was strong and the road so wet. Not far now to Bellever, the rain had stopped but it was still very windy. There are no road signs so I needed to navigate carefully, getting lost now would be unthinkable. It was a hard, hard day and it was very nice to be welcomed at the Bellever Hostel by a hot shower, a bowl of wonderful pea soup and a plate of fish and chips. Oh, and a couple of Jail Ales! What a day, was I really having breakfast in Beer this morning? Very convivial at the Bellever Youth Hostel. No Youth in evidence, just plenty of banter and jolly people. A large group of people from the Lyme and Seaton area were getting settled in and were pretty impressed with my day's exploits. Probably thought I was mad, and they may be right. My two companions in the Dorm were a bit noisy, an Aussie and a Brummy, but it was dry and there was not too much wind!

Over the bridge on Dartmoor

The wet and windy road on Dartmoor

Day 3 - Bellever to Boswinger 70km plus a train ride

Bellever to Plymouth

Well, the plan for today was to head west to Tavistock and then carry on to just before Bodmin from where I would head south to St Austell and Boswinger. It soon became clear that the headwind hadn't abated overnight and the route west would be very unpleasant. Having struggled into the prevailing Westerly wind for an hour, I invoked Plan B and, just before Tavistock, I headed South on NCN 27 down to the City of Plymouth. I should really have made the decision earlier and turned off at Two Bridges and joined the NCN 27 at Yelverton. Anyway NCN 27 is a brilliant route and for much of the way follows a disused railway line and the Plym Valley.  It is frustratingly easy to miss the little Blue signs for the cycleways but a lucky missed turn took me to a traditional bakery with 190 odd year old oven. I locked jaws with another lovely pastie. The baker and the counter Lady were really friendly and directed me safely back onto my intended route. The Lady whispered the price to me, £1.65, I think she let me off the VAT and didn't want George Osborne to hear. And whoopee, no head wind all the way to Plymouth. Plymouth was busy and bustling, lots of students from the University out and about. Found Plymouth Station and booked an £8.90 ticket to St Austell. Bikes are carried free but can only be booked in advance so I was supposed to ask the Train Manager if I could put my bike on-board. Fortunately I did not see her and with the aid of another cyclist loaded Rosinante for the beautiful train ride to St. Austell. Unlike Austria they have a sign on the platform telling you where to wait with your bike so there was no panic search when the train came in. The bike compartment was just behind the engine.

Rolling down to Boswinger beach

Joining NCN 3 at St Austell is not difficult. I was pretty sure which direction to go in but having checked with a couple of people I managed to get totally confused and decided to simply follow the road signs to Mevagissey. I did eventually join NCN 3 but the path was dodging about all over the shop. First one side of the road and then the other and it was muddy. I gave up and took to the road again!

Cornish paste in - St Austell to Carbis Bay via Boswinger

Despite my early struggles with NCN 3 it was actually a sunny and a pleasant ride down to Boswinger Hostel.

The view from my bunk

Lovely Beach at Boswinger

Housed in converted farm buildings, the hostel is in an isolated hamlet about ten minutes from the sea. I dumped my bags and rolled down the hill for a paddle on the beach. Wow - this is a fabulous area for coastal walking. Nice view from my dorm and no other occupants to share with! That meant I could spread out my damp and possibly malodorous clothes. Another good dinner of Soup, Smoked mackerel with Salad and then Apple Pie for £11. In bed and asleep by 20:30 - bliss! Taking the train today was probably bit of a cheat but it turned the day around.

Day 4 - Boswinger to Carbis Bay 70km

Portloe

Gerrans Bay

Saturday and what a lovely day for a bike ride. After a good breakfast I headed west along the coast. It was a bit hilly but who cares, the sun was shining, the wind was not too strong and I was well rested. Had a wander on the beach at Gerrans Bay. Bit disconcerting that the road down to the bay was signed as 'No Through Road'. No problem though, it just meant a short push on a sandy path to rejoin the road on the other side of the beach.  The Hotel down there looked closed and dilapidated, such a shame. Still a lovely spot though. Left the coast and headed inland towards the King Harry Ferry over the River Fal.- free for foot passengers and bikes.

King Harry across the Fal

Decided on an early lunch at the Trelissick Gardens. This is a National Trust property just at the top of the hill after the ferry. Had a lovely pie and salad sitting in the sunshine. NCN 3 went offroad so I ignored it for a while but, after a big hill rejoined near Bissoe. There is a cycle hire station at Bissoe and the Cafe is obviously bit of a gathering point for cyclists. I pressed on towards Redruth on the mining trails. Missed the blue signs yet again in Redruth and had to take a busy road but found NCN 3 again and headed for Cambourne, bit of a sad town. Did not stop, headed for Hayle across country and then the crafty ride along the Saltings to Carbis Bay. It is not obvious, but you can take the turning for the Park and Ride and join a quiet road that runs parallel with the busy main road into St Ives. Nice to be back in Carbis Bay, had the kettle on ready when TW and TMIL arrived from Bournemouth. Time to get to Tesco's for a nice bottle of Aussie Red to have with Dinner.

The mining trails towards Redruth

Journeys End - Carbis Bay

Austria - Ski Season ends in Bad Hofgastein in 2012

The sun sets on the season in Austria - March 2012

On the Jungeralm Lift for the last time

That's it then, season over for me. A new routine needed. No Alpine view in the morning. No school kids cycling past the window at 07:30 on their way to school. The lift attendant who is always late and in a hurry won't be running across the field at 7:55 to get to work The 08:26 'commuter' bus will have one less customer. 

I'll miss that first intake of fresh clear air at the top of the Cable Car and the push off on the fresh corduroy. Oh, and the morning coffee at the Haitzingalm with a nutty chocolate and glass of water. The lunch with a Weiss Beer in the Schlossalm or the Feldinghutte or the Baerstein. The last weary run down to the village, on H1/H2, the sharp turn under the Railway bridge and the steep bit down to the road. Now it is all just a memory. No more cheery smiles and Gruss Gott's from the Billa Girls in the Supermarket as we shop for Dinner. The malodorous boots and the Kneissl skis are parked in the garage and the faded ski pants are hanging in the cupboard. 

Maybe I should have done one more cheeky red? Enough is never enough in Bad Hofgastein, hopefully we will do it all again starting in December.

Angertal lift -the sun sets on the season

A freebie Trojka at the Alm

Austria - Bad Hofgastein in March 2012 -

Slaloms and Cycle rides

On the pylon run

Pole Plants - ski's getting buried outside the Cafe

With snow and sunshine in equal measures its been a great month so far. Apart from one day, when wet snow and poor visibility caused abandonment of an FIS Giant Slalom on the Schlossalm and our more modest efforts, it has been go go go.
The Slalom Ladies all sheltered in my favourite coffee stop, the Haitzingalm. Not sure how they found their ski's afterwards?

Out of the gate

Down the course

Birds eye view

They did get  the race under-way the next day. It was a really high quality field and very good to watch, particularly from the lift above. I nearly dropped my pole whist taking pics from the chair lift.- would have been highly embarrassing. They take a lot of pride in putting on professional races here so I would probably have been banned from the Valley.

Always summit to do in March

Morning meeting - ready for the off!

We have had some lovely clear days in March with fantastic panoramas. The group above couldn't decide where to start?

The clocks jumped forward this weekend meaning an extra hour of skiing! A High Pressure system has brought warm temperatures so an early start is essential. Advancing the timepieces gives us an extra hour on  icy pistes. A lot of the visitors have opted to stick with winter time so the pistes are empty! By lunchtime  we are skiing in sorbet so its time to head home for lunch.

Corduroy Magic Carpet

Morning uplift on the hoodie

After a good lunch a snooze in the sun is essential but there is still time to head uphill on the bike to a favourite viewpoint on the sunny side of the valley above the Annen Cafe.

Pedalling in the afternoon

View to the South and the Hohe Tauern

A favourite vista just below the Annen Cafe. I forgot my wallet so could not make a refreshment stop but it is all downhill from here to our little place.

Welcome to the Olympic 2012 Velodrome - the prologue

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 and then £7:70 each for Travel Cards for just 5 stops - should have bought an Oyster Card really. Never mind, buying a ticket was complicated enough for us. After twice asking for help from the station attendant with the button pushing, I still could not find the right slot for my credit card, luckily he was patient. Not sure where my card would have ended up if it had fitted in one of the other orifices.

TW arrives

Anyway there were regular trains going West into Town. We managed to negotiate the route from Stratford Station to the Olympic Park. People in Yellow Jackets with 'pink gigantic hand syndrome' pointed the way. We had to walk through the massive Westfield Shopping Centre – managed to keep TW focussed on the cycling ahead, luckily she loves Track Cycling, I bet some of the corporate wives at the Olympics don’t get past the shops!

Bit of a queue for security before a slow walk to the swimming pool to pick up the Shuttle Bus to the Velodrome. They would not let us walk as there is still construction work going on. The bus driver identified some of the structures for us like the Basketball Hall and the Water Polo Arena before we arrived at the wood clad Velodrome. Very impressive! It’s a bit like entering a gigantic Noah’s Ark. These animals entered two by two and headed for the catering concession. I think the staff had just landed via Ryanair from Eastern Europe but they were friendly enough. Clutching beer, crisps and a BLT, good health food, we headed for our seats on the back straight.

Rear View of the German pursuiters

Our seats were excellent, great view with plenty of leg room. Our events were ‘only’ qualifiers – for the Ladies and Men’s Team Pursuit – but it was very exciting. The rides were against the clock and the fastest two qualified to ride for Gold on following days. The Japanese Ladies were up first but they were having a bad day and did not really try but it got better. Nobody fell thankfully. The Germans and Koreans tried hard, on their rollers anyway. The German Ladies warmed up for a couple of hours just in front of us, nice view but shame about the racing, got a slap! They were worn out by the time they hit the track.

Team GB in pursuit

The upshot was that Team GB reached both Finals, the Ladies to meet Canada and the Men to meet the Aussies. The crowd was brilliant, really noisy and manic whenever Team GB were involved but polite with everyone else. The partisan crowd was probably noisier than it will be at the Olympics as it was all British and no Corporates. Much too soon the racing was over and it was time to head home!

We had a long wait for our temporary Shuttle Bus back to the swimming pool but we were not too worried. 6000 people in a bus queue must be some sort of record and certainly another first. We’d enjoyed our evening and we managed to avoid being interviewed by LBC Radio. The reporter picked on a couple in front of us in the queue and a couple behind. Pity though, I’ve a great face for radio, as they say. We did chat to Dr Chris Jarvis in the queue which was interesting. He’s been a Doctor for the Cycling Federation for years and gave us some background and a couple of mementoes to take home. We found our way back to Stratford Station past the shops and were soon bouncing along back to Woodford on very wobbly rail tracks. We sat next to an unpaid volunteer who was loving being involved in the Games and the ‘London Prepares’ events.

Olympic Velodrome - on the final bend

It’s easy to be cynical but much more fun to be involved, wish I was going back in August but it will look great on the telly. C’mon Laura!

Cycling on Ice in February 2012 - Marlow to Black Park

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 melted snow had refrozen overnight. Great for old codgers with bones as brittle as charcoal. Feet and fingers were getting frozen but we were all still in one piece when we arrived at the Cafe by the Lake. An all-day breakfast and large coffee set me up for the return trip, thankfully via a less treacherous route. Very glad to get back home. Nice ride dear? Grhhhh!

Austria - The Little House on the Piste in Dorfgastein - 2012

The Magic of Austria - the day we met Glacier Franz (Gletscher Franz)

At the base of the black run in Dorfgastein is a small hut. It’s not a lot bigger than a garden shed.

It could be one of the smallest pubs in Austria. This year it’s almost buried in snow but we found the door. Inside was a small table where three Germans were sitting eating a picnic they brought with them of bread and sausages.

We sat on a low couch by the wall. Franz came in and greeted us. He is 82 and a bit shaky on his pins. He went to the wood stove in the corner where a saucepan full of Gluwein was bubbling away. With a ladle he filled two mugs and brought them over. Even last year, apparently, he would have reached us in one stride but now it was a careful slow shuffle. The Gluwein was lovely and warming. Franz sat with the German trio and shared some of their picnic, they had plenty. The atmosphere was convivial and the banter friendly. The Germans wanted their D Mark back and envied us for having our Pound.  

Franz clears the snow for the next guests

After a while, Franz went to the dresser and poured five schnapps, one for each of his guests.

Cheers, Prost – Franz!

We paid for our Gluwein and he went out to clear snow from a small terrace, more guests were coming.

Franz has run the little place for 43 years, how much longer he will be there is difficult to know, but on a cold January morning in 2012 it was very nice to meet him.

And we only wanted a coffee!
(Update 2013 - We passed the Hutte many times during 2012/2013, sadly it was always closed. Franz might have poured his last Schnapps?)

Bad Hofgastein in January 2012 - a richtiger winter

A proper Winter in 2012

Out on the Graukogel

TW - blue day for a blue run

TBIL - the powder hound

It’s a proper winter here in Gastein. A ‘richtiger winter’ the Austrians call it. All the runs have loads of snow. Some upper runs have closed when the weather has been bad or there has been avalanche danger but apart from that its been 100% go-go-go. Even H8 is open down to the valley. This undulating run through a farm hasn’t been open for a few years, well not during my visits anyway.

Also open is a brilliant Black run down to the bottom on the Graukogl which is a first for me. I think it's the piste where Toni Sailer won the World Championship back in 1958.

TNG - soft seat in the snow

As for cross-country, we have had some rain in the valley recently but all the Langlauf loops are open including the long trek up towards Bad Gastein along the river. 

TNG has been in town. She divided her time between marathon skating sessions on the ice rink, classic langlauf, skating langlauf and downhill skiing. Of course, she also found time for Germknodel and Kaiserschmarnn.