Enjoying The Countryside & Getting Smart About The City...

Hi all,

As many of you know, one of my goals for the new year has been to get out and really see England, Scotland and Whales and to meet new people in London. As much as I love this great city, the country girl in me has been longing to see English countryside. Since I haven't gotten up enough courage to try driving in England yet, the best way to really see the country is on my bike .. which I had shipped over at Christmas and put together at a local bike shop in early January. Last weekend, after a few weeks of searching for other cyclist in London, I met up with a team of riders and spent two days (89 miles!) exploring the countryside around London.

On Saturday, eight of us took off from Liverpool Street Station in London, hopped a train to Braintree (north east of London if you check on a map). We arrived at the rail station, 8 bikes in hand and lots of coffee and pain au chocolat's in our bellies. Everyone was extremely wonderful and welcoming to me. The day was cold, clear and lovely. We rode 39 miles north east to the coast and back. Along the way, I saw more sheep than I've ever known before in my life, plenty of houses in Suffolk Pink (the pink is a bit of the color of Pepto Bismol)- and went to the exact spot where the famous painting 'The Haywain' was created by John Constable. -- it looks much the same today as when the painting was done - only colder and a bit more dreary from the winter colors.

Link to pictures of Suffolk County:
http://www.norfolkcoast.co.uk/aboutsuffolk.htm,

Link to a picture of John Constable's famouse Haywain http://www.thelilypad.co.uk/haywain.html

I had such a great time on Saturday that I went out biking again on Sunday with one of the gals I'd met the day before. Although my legs were weak and my rear end really sore, the two of us met up in Putney (a colorful town southwest of London) and spent the day riding 50 miles up and around the Kent countryside. For those of you from Washington, Kent England is nothing like Kent Washington. The UK Kent is considered 'The Garden of England', and is a lovely stretch of rolling farm hills, one lane roads, and quaint villages. During my ride I went by many fields in hibernation for springtime, castles, little villages, and even Charles Darwin's house. I've included some links to the history of kent, as well as some pictures of the countryside. It's magnificent! Mind you - the pictures included are of Kent in the springtime -- the average temperature they day I went riding was minus 1 degree celcius (a lot colder than that when you are riding at 20mph). The day was cold enough to make my toes and fingers into ice cubes, and to keep me weary of black ice on the road.

http://www.kentnet.co.uk/kentindex/kenthist.htm
http://www.invectis.co.uk/kent/kentctry.htm

On the opposite side of my wonderful weekend exploring the areas around London, I also learned more about living in the big city. As much as I would have thought I'd learned about the perils of theft after my flat was burglarized I still don't have that big city attitude. Never before in my life have I owned a bike lock. The crew of folks I went cycling with on Saturday could hardly believe it as they have each had at least one, if not two bikes stolen in London - even with two or three locks on the bike! Crazy! In addition, I have learned that most cyclists have 'biking insurance' which covers both the theft of the bike, and hospital bills if I ever get run over by one of the cars or trucks when riding around London. Still even more crazy!

They just may make a city girl out of me yet...

Suzy