"Not turned out too bad"

In the cold wind and drizzle, somebody says "not turned out too bad", leaving me searching for an appropriate response.

Are they being ironic, and really mean that this is horrible? Are they trying to show how hardy they are, really meaning that they are capable of dealing with much worse? Or are they being stoic, really meaning that we mustn't let a little thing like weather get us down?

Their tone is neutral - they are giving nothing away.

My reply is "It's OK". Which I try to pitch somewhere between "I can also laugh in the face of adversity", "I can handle this just as well as you can" and "I'm sure the nice men in white coats will be along soon".

I'm not fooling anybody.

Gapminder

I discovered this amazing site yesterday. It illustrates data on global economic and social development over the last couple of hundred years, in a highly compelling way.

Play around with it here, or view examples here.

It puts the credit crunch in some kind of perspective.

Berkshire

It has taken me a while, but I have finally managed to get a decent outline of my local authority, and most of its neighbours, onto Open Street Map.

The picture shows how OSM Inspector judges my success. As far as I can see, the red lines are where different levels of boundary coincide, and I can't see a consistent way of tagging them to remove the error. Otherwise, the different authorities in what used to be Berkshire all seem to join up correctly, in closed loops.

Compared to adding roads and streams I found it remarkably difficult to get a satisfactory outline of the local authority. This is partly because boundaries are not clearly plotted on the out-of-copyright maps, and there have been some changes over the last fifty years or so. It's also partly because local authority boundaries coincide with a lot of other features, such as rivers. In some cases, a rough outline had already been added, and these had to be identified, and disentangled from neighbours so that I didn't do any damage. 

So a hat-tip of respect to those who are adding the other boundaries.

C&C wrapup

I'm back home now, after completing the Coast and Castles ride last week, and it's time to take stock.

On the numbers, I rode a total of 332 miles, including the 200 miles of the route itself, plus an outing to beyond Hexham along the Hadrian Cycleway ,as well as various side trips. That's my highest weekly mileage by a comfortable margin, and it's put me ahead my plans for the year (at last).

Unfortunately, I did put on a bit of weight. It would be nice to ascribe that to developing extra muscle, but the truth has more to do with regular cooked breakfasts and pub food.

The week went more-or-less to plan. I strayed off the route a few times, but never got seriously lost, and my aim of covering 40-50 miles a day turned out to be about the right distance. That made the route itself a five day trip, on top of the journey up to Newcastle and back from Edinburgh.

I had been a bit worried about the facilities to take a bike on the train, but in the event was impressed with how easy it was.

The route itself is lovely, with plenty of interest and variety, and gorgeous scenery. There are no really tough sections. Some of the coastal stretches in Northumberland are not ideal for a road bike, but I only ended up walking and pushing for a short stretch. At that point I could have taken the alternative route along roads, if I hadn't been keen to see that particular part of the coast.

During the week I got a bit better at pacing myself during the day. Early on, I tended to be in a hurry to reach my destination. As I got more confident in the pace I could sustain I got smarter at planning breaks.

The weather was slightly disappointing - a couple of really nice days, quite a lot of grey cloudy periods, one morning of steady rain and one afternoon of cold wind and drizzle. Nothing unmanageable, but it could have been better.

The bike performed well apart from a click that developed in one of the pedals, which was easily fixed by the next bike shop I reached.

It isn't a very hilly route, and the extra weight of luggage was less of a problem than I feared. If anything two full panniers improved handling except at very low speeds, and only really proved a problem on the odd steep hill. Next time, though, I will take a bit more care to keep the weight down. The bike needn't have been so heavy, and it feels very light now without the panniers on the back.

In general I was delighted with the accommodation I found. Obviously, I stayed somewhere different each night, and most were pleasant and hospitable. A couple of places were not up to the high standard of the rest, but nowhere was a real disappointment. I booked the first and last night before I set off, because both were in cities, and the last night coincided with a bank holiday weekend. Apart from those two I rang ahead each evening and booked the next night's stop. I always got a room in my first choice. This was fairly early in the season, and outside school holidays - maybe in the height of summer accommodation would need more forward planning.

Surprisingly, given that they were all right on the Coast and Castles route, the accommodation wasn't all that well prepared to store bikes. Only one had a rack installed, one kept the bike in the dining room overnight, and none of the others had covered storage. I don't think cyclists can form a big proportion of their clientele.

I was also a bit surprised how few places had wireless internet connection, though several said that they were planning to offer it shortly.

Most of the route was already well mapped on Open Street Map. In fact I used the Garmin with OSM Cycle map quite a lot during the week to help stay on track. So thanks are due to everyone who has already plotted the bulk of the route. There were a few gaps around Bamburgh, which I've added this morning, along with some missing link roads, including a chunk of the Hadrian Cycle Way near Hexham and Corbridge.

I did the Hadrian Cycleway at the weekend, and that was well used, but on the Coast and Castles route I didn't meet all that many other cyclists. However, I did meet some lovely people on the way. Their conversation and their company has been part of the delight of the week, and something that I hadn't anticipated beforehand.

So in summary, I'm very pleased with how things have gone. There's nothing of substance that I would do differently. And all that remains is to start planning the next one.

C&C day 5

Last day of the Coast and Castle ride today, from Innerleithen to Edinburgh. Tomorrow I return home.

I had been viewing the morning with a bit of trepidation, because it involved a long climb over the Moorfoot hills. I had a plan to take it easily and steadily, with plenty of breaks. But in the event, while it is certainly a long climb, it is not very steep. So there was nothing to worry about really.

The downwards sections were brilliant: long stretches at 30mph or thereabouts, covering the ground very quickly, and hardly turning the pedals. Unfortunately the weather steadily deteriorated, and once I reached the level most of the day was cold, windy and wet.

The section from Dalkeith to Edinburgh is on good cycle paths, but it struck me as particularly uninteresting landscape. So it was a real pleasure to reach the final section, along the Innocent Railway, and round Arthur's seat and into central Edinburgh.

I had planned to stop on the way, but the poor weather made it more appealing to press on. So the only point of interest was passing the Piper's Grave on the climb over the Moorfoot Hills.

I arrived early in Edinburgh. The weather had brightened by then so I had a bit of a look around, then called it a day.

C&C day 4

The fourth day took me from Coldstream to Innerleithen, via Kelso and Melrose. It was the best weather yet - dry nearly all the way, not much wind, and sunny for most of the day. The only real exception was about ten miles short of my destination, when I had promised myself a break, and the rain started just as I approached a bus shelter. So I stayed in the dry for 20 minutes while the rain passed. As I covered the final leg, the sun came out again and it was a lovely end to the ride.

Towards the end of the previous day, the bike had developed an annoying click, which got worse as I travelled from Coldstream to Kelso. So I stopped at Simon Porteous cycles in Kelso and they kindly took a look at it, and fixed the problem. So far (touch wood) it's been the only problem, and it turned out to be not very serious.

The place where I stayed in Innerleithen had a folk evening in the bar. Excellent music, and excellent company, so it turned into quite an evening. Looking at the bar bill the following morning I deserved to feel much worse than I did.

C&C day-3

My third day on Coast & Castles started with Holy Island, and ended in Coldstream.

I had a slightly late start, waiting for the tide to clear the causeway, then crossed to the island and mooched around the village and part of the harbour. I had been warned that the island had lost some of its magic as the number of visitors had built up. It's hard for me to judge. My memories of childhood holidays on the island now seem like something out of Swallows & Amazons or the Famous Five. I'm hardly going to recapture that kind of magic in my fifties, no matter whether the place itself has changed or not.

The next stage of my journey hugged the coast up to Berwick. It's not a route I'm familiar with, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. There are stretches along the dykes and salt flats, and others along (minor) cliffs. All very varied, and the sun gradually came out as I approached Berwick.

Berwick itself was much better than I remembered. On my last visit I thought it was a bit disappointing, but this time it seemed a really nice town. Perhaps the weather helped, perhaps I am getting less pernickety. Whatever - I liked it.

On the route from Berwick to Coldstream the sun came out properly, and I had a lovely afternoon's ride.

It struck me that cycling is the best way to see this part of the country. I can see advantages in walking rather than cycling the Northumberland coast. Some of the best places are easier to reach on foot than on a bike, and the highlights are closer together. But for the border country it's difficult to imagine a better way than cycling.