Grimaces, Goodies and Gateways.

The last few days have been less than great thanks to my crap back, the result of the more strenuous off road ride I did last Saturday. I count myself very lucky that I can ride a bike at all, but I can, thankfully, and for a good couple of hours too, because I plod about and my legs do all the work while I slump on the bars. But the ride around Cardinham Woods at the weekend, massively enjoyable though it was, involved a dose of body language that saw me stiffening up immediately after. Initially, for the first couple of days, things weren't too bad, but then for some reason, they got a lot worse and I was hobbling about, bent over like the old man I feel I am sometimes, and grimacing and grunting, effing and jeffing, and generally mincing around feeling like I've been stabbed right through my back and into my Sternum, and then had my upper spine set on fire. All of which is a tad less than desirable, but there we go. 

But it's not all doom and gloom at Bimble Towers, some goodies have arrived! Everybody likes goodies! 

First up, issue three of Cranked appeared, and with articles on getting lost in the Lake District and a trip from Alaska to Patagonia by Cass Gilbert among other readables, it all looks very interesting.

Excuse the crappy pictures, but I never claim to be any good at product photography. Just as well I don't too, looking at these...

Then issue 101 of Singletrack also arrived, and as someone who takes a lot of 'ride by selfies', I am jealously admiring that cover shot by Sam Needham (it goes over onto the rear cover too of course, as per all Singletrack cover shots). That just shows what can be achieved with an idea, a tripod and a remote shutter release.  There's an article about a nine year old riding the length of New Zealand, and there is also a Room 101 in the subscribers edition, which is a beggar as I've just started doing a Sin Bin on this blog, and people might think I copied the idea from them! Of course, I nicked the idea from George Orwell's Room 101 in his book 1984... oh and the telly series of the same name, but still.

Also, it's N+1 time again. I hate that term really, but it does sum up the situation it seems most cyclists find themselves in a lot of the time - fancying another bike. The Bantu is not quite a year old yet, but I've found myself looking over my shoulders to see if anyone is looking, then pulling the curtains, and secretively and furtively surfing the new bikes on the web. I don't know why I do that, 'cos I live alone, but anyway, my head has been turned by the idea of a 27.5+ shod biffabout. A half - fat fat bike.  A diet Fat Bike kind of thing. The Marin Pine Mountain and Charge Cooker both get me drooling, and that wheel size would offer me something different to what I've already got. 

Current objects of my desires, the Marin Pine Mountain and Charge Cooker. Must resist... must resist...

But with three bikes already... well two and a right old clattermonger, I don't really need another bike, especially given my gentle riding pace. That's no fun though is it? But to add to the pondering I got online and ordered the 2016 Rose bikes catalogue, and also their magazine. 

Now appearing in more photos than Kim Kardashian's arse, my old black vinyl pouffe. 

Of the direct ordering companies that are around, Rose are the ones who's bikes continue to catch my eye and I really quite fancy the idea of going down that route for the next new bike. More bang for my bucks of course, and I've read nothing but good reports about the whole buying/delivery to the UK process, and of course, the bikes themselves. It doesn't look like they do any 27.5 plussers though... Oh bums...

So that's my bedtime reading well and truly sorted for the next few days at least. 

What else? Well the weather is properly 'orrible right now, really manky and depressing. So I thought I'd do a random post, again about the pleasures to be found in cruising the lanes, but this time featuring a few gateways.

Gateways can be great. They are somewhere to lean the bike when you fancy a rest, somewhere to sit if you can get on top of the gate itself, and offer somewhere to brew up or have a sandwich if you fancy some light refreshments. They are also windows in the claustrophobic corridors that the lanes become sometimes, offering glimpses of expansive views of stunning countryside, a distant village perhaps, or maybe just a cow's backside.

 Whatever, part of the pleasure of bimbling along the lanes is approaching a gate and wondering what it is going to offer up in the way of a diversion from the usual thick hedge or line of trees. 

This was Lump, my old Giant hybrid. Lump by name, and lump by nature. Sit on either of these two objects in the photo with your eyes shut, and you'd be hard pushed to tell which one you were sat on. They're even the same colour look... But this is about gates, and on this gorgeous Summer's day, this gate offered up a superb view of rolling rural countryside and... a car on fire on the distant A30...

Many is the time I've had smoke pouring off my brakes (oh let me dream of such things, please...) as I've whizzed past a gateway, caught a glimpse of some stunning vista and thrown out the anchor to do a u-turn and head back to check it out properly. Many is the time it has been a let down too, but never mind, there are plenty more that offer a great spot to pause and gawp.

You can potter along this lane for ages, blinkered by the Cornish hedges either side of the narrow road, but then up pops this gate (above) to offer a view of Ladock church tower and beyond.

It's a shame to see so many modern galvanised gates these days, as when they were made of wood, they varied in design depending on where in the country you were, making the gates themselves interesting. They also differed depending on what the field they guarded was likely to contain. Gates with thicker bars set closer together nearer the ground were found at fields containing sheep and lambs, while bigger gates with heavier build towards the top marked out cattle and horse grazing. Now they're all built the same with an extra bar at the bottom anyway.

 A bit crappy, this shot above...

 Above and below - Probus glimpsed through gateways on otherwise well shielded lanes.

The wooden gates look far better, but I doubt the farmer is worried about the aesthetics of rural gatery, he just wants something to keep we nosy folk out and his animals in.

 Another crappy shot, but after being hemmed in for some distance by dense hedgery, it made a welcome change to see this view.

Now if this gate above had been made of wood, it could've been modified especially for the job of keeping limbo dancing sheep where they're supposed to be. Instead, the farmer had to bodge it with a pole and some twine.

So that's a look at gateways and why I like them. Next time - What's that shit on my shoe? A  handy, step by smelly step, scratch and sniff guide to identifying the doings you've just stepped in.

Maybe.