More tractors!

Ian has been struggling to dig the pool and has got rather disheartened with it. I think it is just one of those things when you take on a big project, as when things don't go quite to plan it can become overwhelming. We needed a day off and Ian had been looking forward to Sunday's event for a long time. It was a heat in the national tractor pulling competition that took place about 20km from us in the Lot-et-Garrone. Ian went last year by himself as he was here for a few a days, but this year we both went, along with our cycling neighbours. It took us just over an hour to get there on the bikes. I didn't think I'd enjoy it but I must confess I found it an entertaining and enjoyable day out.

Tractor pulling is like drag racing with tractors. The machines are purpose built, specially engineered, hot-rod, tractor- type bling-things that Ian admired!

They are hooked up to a sled with varying amounts of weight on it and have to tow this sled down a 100 metre strip. The tractor that gets the furthest is the winner and there are various categories of tractors, including a class for garden vehicles such as ride-on mowers.  The engines are mostly old aircraft engines or equivalent and when they are on full power you have to put your fingers in your ears or wear ear defenders as the noise is so loud it vibrates your whole body.

The event was well organised and had a good family atmosphere. There was a tent where you could buy sausages, chips and beer and another one selling t-shirts and toy tractors. Unlike a similar event in the UK no one was drunk and there were no police on duty (as there was no expectation of trouble and even if there had been any it would be have dealt with swiftly by the local farmers)!

All in all and enjoyable break from the grindstone. When we got back the day was finished off nicely by watching Jenson Button win the Montreal Grand Prix. Ian was much more relaxed this morning!

Reviewing the focus

I was beginning to think that I may have to change the description of this blog as being about life, llamas and cycling to omit the cycling bit since I haven't ridden my bike for ages. We have had so many things to do at the weekends that cycling had become a thing of the past. However, this weekend Ian decided that as he is no longer riding to work everyday he would like to go out for a bike ride. Yipee! This is one advantage of  Ian not working in town as he now has some energy! We decided to go along the Cuckoo trail, a fairly flatish disused railway line that we have ridden before. We did about 20 miles all in all and for the last three I thought my legs had dissolved! It brought home to me that if you want to stay fit once you are past 50 you have to put in the hours. We stopped at Wessons cafe in Horam for tea and a bun. The cafe was quiet except for 10 or so bikers. They were very quiet and polite and I joked with the owner that I didn't expect to find all the varieties of herbal tea in a bikers cafe! Today my rear end is suffering!

I also haven't written much about llamas, since our focus has been so much on making progress on the house and making our way there that the llamas have taken a bit of a back seat. I have written more about the problems with my current animals, especially the aged cat Norma who was approaching deaths door a few weeks ago. However, as Fiona (of Two Shelia's and Dog) predicted she has made a miraculous recovery on her medication and now looks like she might be fit enough to get her rabies jab and chip and maybe last a little longer. What I would disagree with however is that the cost is reasonable at a combined cost of £40 per month ! Must have gone up! The other problem is that now Norma is feeling better she is putting up more of a struggle when I come to give her the tablets! I have a technique that involves me pinning her between my legs and thrwing the pill as far down her throat as I can get it. However, she is quite good at preventing it from going down and discretely spitting it out at the food bowl!

Finally, this blog has really been more about building the house in France than all the other things. With that in mind we are off Wednesday for 10 days. We have a full van and a list of jobs longer that we have time to do. Ian is pleased as I agreed that he could start work on garage. There is some logic there as if the garage is done then we can store things in it while we finish off the floor in the house. He is now exitedly planning the concrete slab. We have also applied to have Internet connected, but this is France and so far we have not heard back so we will still have to resort to the neighbour's Wi Fi connection!

In memory

I describe my blog as being about life, llamas and cycling. Well, today it is more about death and cycling, which sounds awful but as death is part of life and affects us all at some time it is only appropriate that I write about it here when it does.

I was searching for something on google and by accident came across this news story from June 2007 concerning a plane crash in Malawi which five Britons died. Reading through, I recognised the name of one of them, Daniel Turnberg as I had been on a mountain biking holiday with him in Greece about 10 years ago. In fact, I still have an old photo from that holiday up above my desk at work showing us all sitting in restaurant by the sea, enjoying a beer or two. I remember him as a really nice guy, easy going and good company. I knew he was a doctor but he never told us that his father was a Peer. He was the sort of person that could get on with anyone from any background or walk of life and really was popular. My particular memory is of the last night of the holiday, when everyone was rather drunk but we were both less drunk than the rest and were very worried about people diving in the sea. In the end we escorted the tour guide home and made sure she got to bed safely as she was too drunk to stand up!

I was a little shocked and surprised that I had not been aware of this news at the time and it felt very strange to be hearing this two years later, but now that I have looked back on by blog to check what I was doing I can see that it was at the time when my mother was ill and we were packing up her house, so I guess I was otherwise distracted.

I read down the article a little more and two of the other names seemed familiar as well. I then realised that Dawn and Colin, two of the other victims, had been on the mountain bike trip that I did to Japan in 2004. The trip had been hard and we had faced hurricanes, landslides, rain, Japanese food and the intrusion of a BBC film crew together for two weeks. You get to know people quite well in those circumstances and although I did not keep in touch for long after I felt very saddened by this additional news. Out of the five dead I knew three of them. It felt so strange to think that in my head for the past two years I have been imaging them as alive and yet they haven't been.

I have had enough happen to me to realise that death happens quite easily and I don't take my life or other people's life for granted but those thoughts don't stop the sadness and I sat at my desk and shed a few tears over the computer. I feel quite a bond with people I know or have known from my various cycling activities and I think it is because it seems to attract the type of people that definitely take 'the road less travelled' in life. Most have not gone down the married with 2.4 children route, or if they have, they often have a far from traditional view of the world and within this broad group I have found people that I can identify with.


So...to Dan, Colin and Dawn. Thank you for the memories and for making the holidays such great fun and for being such good companions for all those ups and downs, even though I did not know you for long. I imagine you all now tackling that heavenly singletrack, laughing over a cold beer afterwards and gliding smoothly down the celestial hills.. and if, while you're there, you happen to come across a nice titanium framed hardtail mountain bike that looks like it might fit me, please put it aside for me when I arrive.

Bicycle links

I have posted before about our uncanny connections with all things bicycle related and the way our lives seem to revolve around them (forgive the pun!). While we were away Mike wanted to drive over to a neighbouring town to look at some metal work and other things that a woman was giving away. I can't remember the name of the place we drove to but it was about 40 km away in the Lot et Garonne and by a lovely canal. The woman and her husband had moved to this house three months before from Tenerife, where they had been living for 18years, and bought a run down and badly renovated house. They had just stripped out the insides of 5-6 apartments and were looking for a new use for some of the contents. This suited Mike quite well as he is renovating his house into one bedroom flats.

The woman told me that her husband was a keen cyclist and when I spoke to him about it he said that in his youth he had turned down a place in the 1964 Olympics as in those days there was no money in it and no possibilities of a future career in sports and he had his own career to consider in dentistry. How times have changed!

Nearly famous

Ian spent yesterday doubling the security on his garage and I decided to go out for a bike ride. I have a nice little route now, heading out towards the Darenth Valley and then back via Crokenhill. It is a strange area. Nearer Darenth and Hextable you can see the Dartford bridge and although the countryside is unspoilt in places it doesn't always feel the safest place on earth and I generally hurry through without stopping too long at traffic lights! Yesterday was no exception and as the rain started to get heavier I thought I would attempt a short cut. This took me through the delights of South Darenth. In the East End of London all the gangsters moved out years ago and I suspect they moved there. It was no surprise then to see a film crew in the car park of the Three Bridges filming what looked like the latest gangster movie. At first I thought the blokes milling in the car park were the locals until I saw the camera and realised that they were extras. I was trying to make out the leading man, who looked to me like Vinnie Jones. However, I then had to move as the director did not think that a middle aged cyclist crossing the road would be good background material! The real locals looked even more grungy than the paid ones! The rain got heavier and I realised that my short cut wasn't really a short cut and arrived back an hour later, soaked through!

Welcome to Obama

I saw on the News that the town of Obama in Japan was celebrating after Barack's victory! This rang some bells in my head. In 2004 I went to Japan on a 2 week cycling holiday. It was a kind of 'trip of a lifetime' type of holiday and I had saved both money and annual leave to enable me to go. We were the first group to go on this trip and had the dubious pleasure of being followed round for the first week by a well known holiday programme and a rather famous former BBC News reader!

We started off in Osaka and then headed off across Japan to the sea coast, ending in the town of Obama. I remember the weather being rather like it is here today, wet and windy!





The town was grey and the hostel was spartan but the town put on a special treat for us and treated us like royalty with a full Japanese banquet, gifts, games and a presentations! We left the following morning but were hampered a little in our journey as the road had disappeared during the storm two days before we arrived!

After that we took the ferry to Kyushu and the BBC left us in peace! The memory prompted me to search out some old photos taken by me and fellow guests!

A gentle Saturday

Yesterday I went on my first mountain bike ride for many months. It was a glorious day; sunny and warm but not too hot. We cycled through one of my favourite views on the North Downs where in the middle of a field, seemingly in the middle of nowhere there is a bandstand with wonderful views to the south. (Actually, I don't think it is a bandstand; more like an observatory) I managed to stop this time and get some photos. I'd forgotten how nice it is to get outdoors and away from cars and traffic.

I've since discovered that this view is Colley hill near Reigate and the 'bandstand' is actually a folly (called Inglis folly). It also has a really impressive ceiling!

A good victory

A 24 year old Italian called Riccardo Ricco won today's stage of the Tour de France. He put in what appeared to be a superhuman effort to speed past some of the best riders in the world going up a mountain. As Ian said "he went up that mountain faster that you would go down it". (This is a reference to my dislike of going fast downhill!). Ricco also won a stage on Thursday and when interviewed about the win he said that he had a brother who was killed in a motorbike accident and now he dedicates every success to him and his other brother, who is a footballer dedicates every goal. He said that he likes to think that he is there with him and enjoying his success. For me it sums up the motivation and determination that you need to succeed in the Tour. The other thing you need is a good team and Mark Cavendish certainly had that when they led him to within 100 metres of the finish line yesterday and he repaid them by out-sprinting everyone else to the line. He is only 23 and it is good to see such talent in the next generation. I only hope we don't learn later that it is drug fuelled.

17.07.08
I have to add a post-script here. Ricco has just been sent home after testing positive for EPO. I had my suspicions but am very disappointed. It does make me feel less inclined to watch it.

British cycling

I watched Cavendish win yesterday's stage of the Tour de France. He is currently the best sprinter in the world and the first British stage winner for 5 years. It was great to watch and he really deserved it after last year when he was well placed to win the second stage in Canterbury until a female spectator walked in front of him and knocked him off his bike. I don't know whether he would have won or not but the dream of a British stage win on home ground was ended there and then by a stupid and selfish act.

Cycling was also in the news yesterday after a cyclist on a mountain bike was fined £2000 for knocking over and killing a young girl who either stepped in front of him or refused to get out of his way. The story is quite complicated and it is hard to work out exactly what happened. It does sound like the man didn't make any attempt to stop when the teenagers were in the road and that can never be condoned; and I can also fully understand why the girls parents feel that the punishment was grossly inadequate. However, this story led the papers and press to publish a whole collection of anti-cyclist articles. There was quite a nice balance in the Times presenting what I thought was many sides of the argument. As a driver, cyclist and one time regular commuter on the bike I feel I have the right to add my bit!

1. Not all cyclists break the rules in the same way that not all motorists are mad psychopaths whose one aim is to knock off every bike rider they see.

2. In order to survive as a cycling commuter you have to believe the latter so that you can protect yourself against the one that is!

3. Sometimes it is safer for everyone if as a cyclist you bend a few rules. For example, it is safer to position yourself just ahead of cars at a junction so that they can see you and it is safer to be a little out from the side of the road for the same reason. It does make some car drivers annoyed but at least they see you.

4. Most cyclists are insured; either through their household insurance, car insurance or through membership of a cycling organisation.

5. It is quite possible to accidentally kill someone when you are riding a bike. Downhill the bike will go as fast as a car (something that often seems to infuriate some car drivers who feel like they should overtake no matter what).

6. The consequence of any scrape between me on a bike and a car will always be worse for me (so it is in my best interest not to get into one).

7. Cyclists do pay tax that adequately covers their use of the roads, either through income tax or through motor vehicle tax (most cyclists own cars as well).

8. Sometimes pedestrians just don't look out for bikes. When they see me (and I do not cycle on pavements unless it is legal for me to do so) they jump and say 'get a bell'. Well, I have tried a bell and it is not heard above the traffic! If it is, it also causes people to jump out of their skins and in their shock and then they usually walk in front of me! I have tried coughing loudly, squealing my breaks, saying politely 'excuse me please' or 'just behind you' and all of it produces a startled response.

9. Pedestrians sometimes think that if I cycle more slowly it will be safer. This is not necessarily true as at very slow speeds it is more difficult to control the direction of the bike.

10. It is very difficult to hand signal as you are going down hill and braking!

The proper start of summer

I know summer is really here now as today was the first day of the Tour de France. I shall be in front of my television every night to watch the highlights. Ian and I still have a souvenir from last year; a road sign 'tidied up' from the side of the road somewhere in South London! We will find a nice place to put it in the house in France!

Remembering the weekend!

Today I am sitting at home marking. This is not the most exiting way to spend the day and I have to battle with myself constantly to stop myself from watching the tennis or from blogging as both activities are considerably better than marking! I spend quite a bit of time reading emails as well and one of those emails was from Ian, who sent me some photos from our ride in Kent the other week. I have added a couple of photos. One is of Ian and the other is of the Lovely family!

Fanny's farm

At the time of writing this I am so tired I can barely co-ordinate my fingers on the keyboard. We joined the mountain bike group for a ride around the Reigate hills today. Sounds easy as you may ask 'what hills are there in Reigate?' but in fact there are plenty! I managed to keep up for a while but then as I got more tired the pace stayed the same and my legs and lungs just couldn't stand the pain! Still, I made it until lunchtime and then Ian and I went home shortly after (I think he was tired as well!). Lunch was in one of my favourite places. It is called Fanny's Farm and is not far from Reigate hill, just off the M25. Fanny is an impeccably dressed 'well built' lady of a certain age and class. The farm consists of a few ramshackle buildings, a couple of portable toilets and a kind of garden area. It has no mains power or sewerage so the till is an old fashioned manual one and Fanny adds up the bills on paper. It takes no cheques or credit cards. In the summer and warmer winter days you can sit under the trees in the various bits of the garden and have tea, cakes and light meals. We sat in the tree house garden which is a wonderful little garden with a large tree-house at one end.

(picture from http://www.merstham.co.uk/merstham/Gallery%20Pages/mw44.htm)

You can rent the tree-house for a couple of hours to have your own afternoon tea with friends. The tea is served from a teapot, in china cups and the cakes are homemade. It is served by a bevvy of teenage girls and as it is in Surrey they can at least string a sentence together coherently. You can buy cakes, chutneys, home made jams etc., plants grown on the farm, arts and crafts, teas to take home. The plants are grown in beds (literally; as the raised beds are made out of old bedsteads turned upside down and filled with soil). There are two enormous Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs who ignore all visitors, an inquisitive Jack-Russell terrier who doesn't, chickens (you can buy eggs for 20p each) and other various animals, plants and bric-a-brac. How Fanny manages to meet current health and safety regulations I don't know but in the summer and at many weekends in the winter the place is packed. It looks like it is on the verge of closure but has probably been going for years! (In fact I have just looked on their website and it has been going since 1979)

Cyling co-incidences 2

I wrote before how there is a cycling connection throughout various aspects of my life. Yesterday in my French class Keith, one of my fellow pupils, said that he used to race when he was younger and had all the programmes from the Tour de France going back to the 1950s and 60s! He used to race for Barnet cyclists and he raced at Crystal Palace so he probably raced against Ian's father at some point.