Everywhere I go recently, I keep seeing these signs...
Throughout my life I'd not had to worry about my weight at all - always as skinny as a racing snake I could eat as much of anything I fancied and not change from my 30 inch waist trouser size one jot. But since giving up smoking a few years ago, and with my health issues ramping up a bit at the same time (not a good time to give up the fags then, during a period of high stress but still...) I had gone up to a portly for me, 34 inch waist. Hardly a chubber, but I was starting to get a bit of a gut on me, not that I was overly concerned I must admit.
But getting back on a bicycle and getting out and about has not only helped me so much mentally, but I have also lost a bit of weight without even trying - no dieting, no red days and green days, no tasty as a mouthful of cardboard Ryvitas for lunch, just a bit of exercise. Although in saying that, the precautions I take before rides does aid weight loss of course.
I don't know how heavy I was when I started riding again, but I am now just under 11 stone, and that's having put a bit back on since Christmas.
The BBC web site recently had a thing about obesity, BMIs and all that carry on HERE, complete with a form to fill in to judge how skinny or much of a blobber you are, and give you a BMI rating.
I was pleased therefore to find that according to that test (a very lightweight test I imagine, not like a full on medical assessment) I score a BMI of 20.9 which ranks me as 'healthy.' Good oh.
According to the Beeb, the average BMI for my age group (55-64 year olds) is 28.8, and a thumping 79% of men in this age group are overweight, obese or very obese. In the South West of England 66% of all men are overweight.
So although I was starting from a half decent point anyway, I wasn't over 20 stone or anything daft, it's pretty clear how good my modest cycling efforts have been for my waistline, and as I say, all without really trying.
Riding a bike has to be the best way to shed a few pounds I reckon and it is so good for the mood and general well being too (although swimming is said to be the best form of weight loss exercise there is, as it is impact free on the joints and limbs unlike running).
So I won't be joining the wobblebottoms at Swimming World, nor consulting complicated colour charts to see how much guilt my lunch will cost me, I'll just keep going for pleasant potters about on a bicycle. Losing weight is a piece of cake with a bike, as many pieces as you like in fact.
Now all we need is the Government to really take all this on board, along with the equally healthy savings to the NHS to be gained by encouraging more folk onto bikes, and not to stuff it up completely by coming up with all the wrong answers in their 'Cycling Safety Consultation' that they are conducting. Compulsory bonce potties, Dayglo vests or registration would all be very bad ideas...
Meanwhile, in other news, I've been internet shopping again and got myself some clumpy under trollies...
These shorts may be fit for wearing as an outer layer, I don't know, but not for me anyway, I keep my legs and groin power bulge under the cover of proper trousers at all times.
But anyway, I got myself some gel padded shorts from Decathlon to aid breaking in the new saddle, and they are a vast improvement comfort wise over the thin foam padded jobbies I was using.
They do feel like I've just had a BIG accident in my trousers when first putting them on, but after a few minutes in the saddle I don't notice them at all. They don't completely eliminate the bum pains, but they certainly stave them off a lot, lot longer. Just as well too, as my next move would've been to fill my trousers with multiple layers of Bubblewrap...
All this is I suppose one disadvantage of losing weight by cycling - a thinly padded backside with no layers of wobbly fat to plushly absorb the hard saddle.
Ha! Not so tough now are you eh? You will bend to the ways of my backside you beggar, I will be victorious in this particular battle!
Well now enough of all this, I've a metric tonne of photos to get through, so best crack on with some rather enjoyable rides I've been having.
Thankfully, mind and body have been a bit better lately so I've made the most of things and got out for some rewarding bike time.
I've found it vital to make hay while the sun shines (figuratively and literally speaking, sort of...) as I know that the better days will come to an end and my mood will collapse at some point, or my back get snagged and give me weeks of grief or whatever. But I've also learned that when I'm in the middle of the bad times, they too will end if I just give in and let them run their course. I'm done with fighting my downward moods and trying to ignore them, or trying to force a recovery, so I just have to sit them out until I start to pick up again, and only then can get back out on a bike to accelerate the recovery process.
But as I said before I started waffling, I've been doing well of late, so have got some more rides in, starting with last Thursday the 26th April, when I climbed eagerly aboard the Marin and headed off for some quality bimbling over Lamorran way.
I decided to head over towards the wooded lanes around Lamorran to see if there were any good displays of Bluebells to be seen.
My local woods usually features a modest carpeting of them, more of a small rug really, but I haven't checked them out in there yet, as I have done every year previously - this time I wanted to get my Bluebell fix elsewhere if possible.
This (above) isn't it though! Just a small clump in the sunshine as I was leaving the village.
A lovely morning in the making, and a quick photo stop for the view of Probus over on yonder hill.
Normally, arriving at Truck Fork at the bottom of Probus Hill I go up into the village and out the other side as it's pleasant enough, even if it does involve a bit of a dog leg around an extra mile perhaps. This morning though I opted to turn right instead, and head straight towards the Probus bypass, taking me almost into Tresillian.
'Oh hell... Bodmin and that there London eh? You don't want to be goin' to either of those there bleddy places boy, they're all mad as a bag of Badgers in Bodmin and Londoners do talk funny. No let's see where we can go on t'other side of him...'
'Now see... thas much better innum... Truro's nice and Falmouth, well he's bleddy lovely so best you go that way my 'ansum...'
Not shown in these photos of this milestone is the pong from the local sewerage works. Fair makes your eyes water it does.
Probus Church boasts the tallest tower in the county believe it or not, as it doesn't look much here, but it can be seen for miles around.
The lane near Little Trewirgie.
A cracking sunny morning but there was a chilly but also quite invigorating, breeze blowing.
Well this Bluebell hunt isn't going so well, I've got more than this in my back garden...
This lone, grubby, tattered and splattered Daffodil made a sorry sight.
Well there's a few more Bluebells, but hardly a big spread of them.
They will be shorter lived this year apparently due to the rubbish weather and unusually cold spring we had meaning they were a few weeks late in flowering, which in turn means they will also disappear faster than usual, or so some bloke on the telly the other day was saying anyway.
Lamorran Church was built in the mid 13th Century and has never been enlarged, so is a pretty cosy affair.
This whole area is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the lanes are exceedingly quiet traffic wise - in a couple of hours wandering I probably only encountered a couple of cars.
This shot above is where the road towards St Michael Penkivel just nips the edge of Parson's Hill Wood. Just over this fence is a stream that is home to some Otters according to a local I encountered on a previous ride here.
One feature of this area is the vast banks of Ramsoms to be seen at this time of year, more than making up for the lack of Bluebell action. In places the whiff of Garlic is quite pronounced too, so no chance of missing these particular flowers as you ride past. The smells, pleasant or otherwise, are part of the pleasure of being out in the fresh air rather than in the sealed climate controlled capsule of a car (although the aforementioned sewerage works might be stretching the 'pleasure' angle a bit...)
The hamlet of Merther Lane.
Phone box is empty and long since decommissioned while below the bridge is not a river or stream, but a Tregothnan Estate access road.
View over a hedge looking towards Tresillian.
Forget Me Nots on Tresillian Bridge.
The camera just doesn't do this bank on the lane between Tresillian and St Erme justice - it was ablaze with colour, mostly pink and white, but with the single yellow blob of a Lone Ranger Dandelion.
This is what Spring is all about - warm sunshine and lashings of vibrant colour and fresh new growth.
Pink Porslane and Greater Stitchwort.
A more comprehensive version of this map can be found HERE
A very enjoyable ride around some charming, peaceful, lanes then, and the good news is the new padded shorts did a great job. I did start to get a bit of discomfort towards the end of this ride, but it was far from the agonies of the first journey on that saddle on which I just wore normal trousers and couldn't wait to get off the bike. The saddle has changed shape every so subtly, now having a slight downward curve along its length so I'm confident it'll break in soon enough. Having cleaned the bike after this ride though, I'm a bit reluctant to get it mucky again, but the only way to get that saddle comfortable is by riding it so I'll be out again on the Marin later this week with a bit of luck.
Saturday the 28th of April saw me fish out the also just cleaned Voodoo for a trip round my favourite loop. But wait, what's this?
My beloved Tregassow Lane has been bespoiled by some unnecessary surface dressing! Clearly they haven't fixed the flooding issues while they were busy...
Nope! Clearly not. The Parish Council have been complaining long and hard to the County Council about the flooding on this lane, obviously to no avail, but to be honest if they did fix it, it'd be a shame! It's tough on people walking, but otherwise it's not really a problem to anyone. Big puddles form after heavy rain, it happens - get over it!
Waiting for the darned sun to come out again... The GoPro is very good, but when the sun isn't out, the photos lack vibrancy and contrast.
The photo I was after - a slightly vain action shot of the old boy looking mean and moody as he prowls through a flood on his trusty steed.
Right, now here's a thing...
This photo was taken on the 15th of March, and note the freshly laid, luuurrrrvely smooth black tarmac that had been put down along about a mile or so along Tregassow Lane.
Now below we have the same spot more or less, just last Saturday...
What the chuff? Yep, they've only gone and surface dressed straight over the top of the new surface they laid just a few weeks before, a far superior surface at that!
So what was going on? Well according to a friendly local lady and fellow keen photographerist, Sophie, The Countess of Wessex was down here last week, going into the village Community Centre before paying a visit to Tregassow Asparagus Farm, and the road was resurfaced to provide a better, consistent surface for her little motorcade to mooch along.
Well I didn't know Her Royal Sophieness was coming down, she never told me, I'd have given her a bite of my pasty if I'd had known, but still.
But anyway, was that the reason the lane was afflicted with the dreaded gravel? I don't think so, as a lot of other lanes have also been done so it was probably just coincidence, but why go over what was obviously very freshly laid and perfectly good tarmac again? What an utter waste of material, time and more importantly, money.
Yep, you haven't really got the hang of this camouflage/escaping from a predator business have you eh? You'd be crap in a game of hide and seek that's for sure.
Pheasant normally leg it quick in a frenzy of flappy wings and 'scuuuurrrchy' noises when I come a bimbling, but not this smart arse. Oh no, he clocked me coming and slowly, and cockily I might add, made his way into the crop, from where he kept peeking out to see if I was watching. Well I was, not only that but I got the camera out and papped him. If it had been a shotgun he'd have been Puree.
Red Campion.
An Early Purple Orchid sunning itself on a bank near Trevella Stream.
Only a short ride on Saturday, and with me still feeling pretty good (by my standards anyway!) I planned another ride for the next day - Sunday the 29th. Rides on consecutive days take a bit of planning and also confidence on my part, but I really fancied a good ride somewhere different.
Early morning sunshine as I leave my home port. I'm lucky in that when mentally I'm feeling ok, I can get up early and get on with things, as early morning is to me, the very best time of day to be out and about. Everywhere is quiet, especially on a Sunday, and the day is fresh, none of the staleness of the end of the day you get in the evenings.
The downside is that mornings can be chilly, and this was no exception. There was a North North Easterly blowing and boy did it feel cold to start with.
The lane leading towards the A30 at Zelah.
Crossing the A30 was not a problem at about 7 am on a Sunday, unlike a couple of weeks previously on a weekday that saw it take about 15 minutes to get across...
The view across Polgoda Downs from the lane twixt Zelah and Goonhavern, looking South West towards the A30.
Zooming in and we get a better view of the engine house of West Wheal Chiverton mine, and the propeller/fan things on the far side of the A30.
A lot of people don't like wind farms, and I must admit the huge, dense masses of some of the ones up country aren't particularly easy on the eye, but these we have down here scattered about I don't mind at all. Like sitting and staring at a log fire, I find them quite relaxing to watch silently spinning lazily away on the horizon.
On the other hand, they are flipping scary when you're up close and they are going like the clappers in a strong wind. I know they have governors on them to restrict how fast they can spin, but by crikey they can still get a good flap on and the torque going through the gears at the back of the head unit must be incredible.
I made my way through a still slumbering Goonhavern - there isn't much there anyway and along the main road down to my destination - Perranporth.
Perranporth sits at the bottom of a steep hill which ever angle you arrive from, and I made the most of gravity to get a good head of speed up on the Jamis and arrived in the village and was pleased to look down and see 32 mph on the speedo in the 30 mph limit. I arrived in the coastal village after descending the hill with due diligence and compliance with the Highway Code and all speed limits...
Perranporth main street at 07.45 on a Sunday morning is a tad deserted.
Not so the beach which saw quite a few dog walkers (dogs are allowed on this beach at any time all year round, unlike many beaches where they are banned during the daytime during the summer season).
After a quick prowl up and down the front I opted not to go onto the beach but instead to go up Cliff Road (a short but sharp climb) and have a gander at the view from the path up there.
Artificial flowers above the cliff.
Another bunch is further back attached to a bench. I've no idea if they both commemorate the same person or not, or whether it was someone who jumped or fell from the cliff, or if they are for the Wadebridge man who's body washed up on the beach a couple of years ago.
This strange affair is the Millennium Sundial, and it displays Cornish Time, not GMT. Depending on which web site you visit, Cornish Time is 20 minutes ahead, or behind, GMT.
Way back the time of day was determined by local sundials so all across the country, the time differed depending on where you were. It was the coming of the Great Western Railway, which was the first rail company to adjust times, that saw local time converted to GMT in 1840.
Anyway, the time on this here sundial was showin' t'was time for morning coffee.
Sat on one of the granite benches surrounding the Southerly edge of the sundial, waiting for the kettle to boil. Ultra wide angle lens makes the bike's bars, and my feet, look silly big.
Nescafe Toffee Nut - That'll do nicely.
Leatherman multi tool is inside the wind shield to stop it rattling against the kettle in the wind.
Not a bad spot to spend some time.
Hmmmm... there's lots of this kind of thing in all the resorts in the UK of course, and a lot are far worse looking too. This place though would look a lot better without the flat roofed bit.
Unfortunately, it's not just the hotels and guest houses that look a tad tatty, even the post box in Perranporth looks grubby and uncared for.
The dead centre of the town.
The main street is typical of these sorts of seaside towns really though - a bit tired looking (this is where the over used cliche of 'faded glory' is usually trotted out in articles) and run down in the off season. Amazing how injecting a throng of holidaymakers can breathe life and vibrancy into a place and cover up the cracks.
The main street here is mostly Ice Cream Parlours or Surf shops with their bleached 'wood' fronts. The front of this place above is normal wood covered with a bleached wood effect vinyl wrap - fake wood to cover real wood. Of course!
A lot of the shop window displays looked severely faded, so are presumably shut for the winter still (or the staff are terminally lazy).
The 'restaurants' are pretty much all typical seasidey restaurants too - all crappy chipped formica topped tables with huge squeezy bottles of ketchup, and a constant smell of fish and chips in the air.
Maybe I'm missing something, but I felt compelled to ask about that comma after the word 'us.'
It not being the surfer shooting season, I'd left my sniper rifle at home, so there was nothing more to do than to start to head home via the lanes.
'Character' cottages at Bolingey.
Cherry Blossom, Wild Cherry Blossom I think.
Oh look, they've put bunting out, that was nice of them but it wasn't necessary, honestly, I don't like a fuss.
St Piran's Church in the parish of Perranzabuloe. Lovely collection of Bluebells and some Daffodils along the wall top.
Rally Driver and car designer Donald Healey was born in this parish. There, that was interesting wasn't it!
The church is a little beauty, and set within very attractive and well kept grounds.
All very nice then but Brownie points are lost for not having a coffin rest in the Lychgate. The seats are there, but not the box perch.
White erm... Bluebells at Ventongimps. These are a right mare to photograph on a bright day as their soft features all merge into one blown out whiteness, so some serious exposure compensation was deployed, then heavy lifting of the shadows in post processing of the RAW file to even things out.
Won't be long now and I'll have to wait until winter again for craggy, gnarly, skeletal tree shots.
The road from Ventongimps towards the A30, near Cotton Springs.
Once again I couldn't believe how quiet it was - there was next to no traffic at all out and about and the only sounds to be heard were those of the birds.
For a cheap bike the Jamis doesn't make a bad tourer at all, if you're not in a hurry. It is a tad heavy, and the fork keeps the handlebars off the road, that's about all you can say about that, but otherwise it is a comfortable and easy bike to ride, smooth running too. Being a mountain bike (supposedly) the gearing is a little low, but with the 29er wheels you can still bang along a bit, but probably not as briskly as a proper purpose built touring bike.
Country lane random shots.
Whoop! Check it out - 30 mph... uphill... and with panniers attached. Who is this hill climbing mega athlete?
Oh hang on... alright, I'll come clean. This is a shot taken just a few seconds before...
Yes I was giving it the berries down this big old dip, and the 30 mph uphill photo was just as I hit the hill on the other side and still carrying most of my speed.
Anyway, a very satisfying ride all round. At just about 20 miles for the trip a tad shorter than I expected it to be, but who cares about that. One of the good things about an early start is you go out, have a bit of an adventure, and still get back at a reasonable time and on this occasion I was home, bike unloaded, chain wiped clean, me showered and sat down for lunch as normal at one o'clock.
So that was that, and fingers crossed the good health continues, although in reality I know it'll go down hill again at some point. But as I said earlier, when times are a bit better I have to make the most of things, and the memories of rides like these and the promise that more will come, are what help get me through the low periods.
Again, the full mappage with gory details of elevation and gradients and so on can be found HERE
Right, once again proof reading will have to wait so please forgive any mistakes for the time being.
In the meantime - Happy cycling!
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