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A casual stroll to Lord Byron’s place
We make plans for the Gods’ amusement. I drove an hour for a special Sunday/holiday bike ride, only for my left cleat (the thing that clips into the peddle) to completely fail. I didn’t have spares to hand and I couldn’t buy a new set due to Sunday trading hours. 🙄 Rather than curse my…
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Who doesn’t love a red panda?
And a bargain? When you visit West Midlands Safari Park (WMSP – https://www.wmsp.co.uk/) you get a free ticket for a second visit later in the season. I made use of mine yesterday, spending the afternoon with all my exotic friends. When I moved to this part of the world there was two things in particular…
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Berry Season
When I have been out on bike rides I have been keeping an eye on the growth of nature’s bounty. It comes earlier or later depending upon weather conditions. It’s been drought-like here in the last month and it hasn’t been especially sunny. It’s not the best crop I’ve seen and it’s come later than…
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Malvern Exhaustathon
The mini heat wave in England ends today so I wanted to get outdoors. I took it to the extreme by taking a 10+ mile hike across the peaks at Malvern. These were the hills where Tolkien used to walk so it’s no coincidence that it looks Hobbiton-esque. It’s also “Elgar country,” and as coincidence…
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Annual Gloucester trip
I love the Quay so a yearly trip is well on its way to becoming a new tradition. There’s always a bargain to be had, on this occasion two pairs of chinos and two T-shirts. The former were from GAP, a store I never had much time for in its heyday but I still feel…
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Holiday Iron Pumpin’
What else would I do with paid leave day #1? It’s been a scorcher, 27oC for much of the afternoon so I was dripping wet. I did 8 exercises covering arms, shoulders, chest and back so it was a bit of an all-rounder. I very much hope to build momentum before the autumn term starts.…
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Saturday ride: I need to buy a proper map!
4th September 2021 was “schoolboy error Saturday.” I picked out a fun looking new route, one that winds its way through a series of hamlets along country lanes. I’ve used some of them before but I’ve never done a circuit of them. Anyway, I went out fast and hard with a 18.5mph average. I shouldn’t…
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Some 2021 garden highlights
No summer in the UK is the same as the last, nor is it predictable. I’ve had summers that have rained every day and others that have featured prolonged heat waves. Either way, each year some things grow fantastically whilst others don’t take at all, in spite of my best efforts. Here’s a little collage…
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Mini break and leisure ride
In 2014/15 I was lucky enough to live in the beautiful and lively Cardiff Bay whist I worked for Welsh Government. I thought about settling there and nearly did before packing my bags and returning to middle England. It was great to be back then, the weather was exactly as it always seemed to be…
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Another marathon (on a bike)
Snatched another 1.5 hour ride on Thursday 19th August, which luckily coinciding with a power cut that would have left me with little productive to do. I’ve genuinely loved my last few rides, I’ve felt fitter, lighter and more powerful. It might just be a couple of days where I’ve “got the legs” but hopefully…
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Dr Martin James 