Tuesday 21 August 2007

cycling holiday and more exercise

Well, my colleague Sarah and I have sorted out our trip to Belgium. Next Wednesday we are going to take our bikes on the early train down to Dover and take the ferry across to Calais. Then we will cycle from there to Veurne in Belgium, a mere 70 km. (Some readers may find the comparison of Halifax to Stewiacke helpful.) We've booked our bed and breakfast there and we'll be staying for three nights. Then on Saturday we return by bike and ferry and train. We are both so excited! We planned the route to travel along a canal that goes from Calais all the way to Veurne, which means we will not be on main roads and the journey will not involve any hills.

Before we go I need to degrease and grease my bike and change my back inner tube. I picked up a pair of summer gloves last week, which has made a big improvement in my comfort as I ride. (My winter gloves were too fuzzy inside and too hot to wear.)

In the meantime Ant and I are heading up to Liverpool to celebrate his Mum's birthday and visit with his family.

I have had a very active last couple of days. Sarah and I have been cycling around loads. After Sarah came over on Saturday and we sorted out our holiday, we headed over to Tooting Bec to sign up for three free days at Fitness First for this Monday to Wednesday. Yesterday we headed over to the gym for a yoga session in the morning. It was really hard work! Today my arms and shoulders are aching. Some of the stretches were incredibly hard to do but still relaxing by the end of the session. Afterwards we started following cycle path signs and eventually reached the Tate Britain art gallery. Sarah really wanted to see Francis Bacon, a modern British painter whose works I found a bit bizarre. We had some lunch there before heading home again.

Today we met up half way along our respective cycles to work and I spent some profitable time there. I cycled home and then to the gym to sit in the sauna as a reward for all the exercise I've been doing! After a nice shower and a stretch I pedalled home again. Tomorrow's plan is to go to yoga and then maybe back to work... or maybe not. At any rate, I have been cycling everywhere these past few days and really liking it.

3 comments:

Jayme said...

Amazing for a girl who was nervous to cycle in the new forest a little over a year ago!!!

Kevin, Sonya, Claire & Max said...

Impressive! Belgium seems like it would/should be so far, mind you I dont think I could bike 70k - so it it still far to me. Sounds exciting. Cant wait to see pics!

S.

Anonymous said...

How did the trip go?? Sounds like you are really getting into cycling! Maybe you can come join us for a few weeks, we'd love the company :)