First Bike Ride.

I woke early this morning and lay in bed watching the stars before getting up at 7.30 to do my morning exercises. It's not often that I'm awake and ready to start my day at such an early hour. It was crisp and cool with a good breeze which was good for drying my washing. The towels weren't quite dry by the end of the day so they're airing over the radiators which came on late this afternoon. With all the morning jobs and phone calls out of the way we decided to get out our bikes for a ride down the Tarka Trail towards Braunton. I used to bike 6 miles to work each day through central London but stopped 34 years ago when our oldest was born. Since then I've been on a bike once, about 15 years ago, when I rode with the boys to East Down. So it was with some trepidation that I set off, followed by Peter who was keeping an eye on me from behind. That was after we lowered the seat so that I could supplement the brakes by putting my feet on the floor. 

To get to the Tarka Trail we had a short downhill road section but once we reached the busy Braunton Road there was a welcome cycle lane on the footpath that took us up to the bridge and then down to the river. Need I say that I got off and pushed my bike across each junction.

It was pleasant to cycle beside the river listening to the different birdsongs of the marshland birds. There were a fair number of people on the trail, cycling and walking, as it's the half-term school holiday.

Despite using my exercise bike every day for well over a year I soon began to run out of puff. I'll just have to increase the resistance level for my daily pedalling to build up some stamina. Eventually we should be whizzing right down to Braunton and then the sand dunes and sea at Crow Point. Today we turned around before Heanton. Instead of going all the way back to the bridge we turned off into the industrial estate and called in at the Co-Op. I chickened out and walked my bike home up Chaddiford Lane on the pavement. Not only was I tired but even though it is a two way road with all the cars parked on either side drivers have to take turns to squeeze through the space and I didn't feel confident swinging around the parked cars and checking for cars coming from behind. 

At home I ironed the washing from the line and when Peter got back from meeting a friend we caught the last half an hour of sun at the top of the garden.