I’m steadily clocking up the miles – long, lonely trundles through the Oxfordshire countryside. It is all rather unremarkable, leaving not so much to write about. It’s hard to get too excited by logging steady mile after steady mile. So far I am really enjoying the winter training; it’s just that it all seems one speed and quite unremarkable.
It’s bleak mid winter, but it’s still quite beautiful. Not the most obvious time of the year to reinvent yourself as a touring cyclist, but there’s a lot to be said for Oxfordshire when the sun is out – even if it is mid-winter
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When I came back from a short lived cold last week, the weather had distinctly changed from mild Autumn to proper cold winter. It’s time to get out the thermal layers, the hotpads, and pretty much everything bar the kitchen sink. It’s the time of the year where it takes me longer to get ready for a ride than it does to read all the things that interest me in Cycling Weekly; last week I finished the comic in a record time of 1.28 minutes – The competitive spirit is still there, even if it is getting a PB for finishing a cycling magazine.
On the positive side, I’m able to combine winter training rides whilst indulging in another very part-time hobby of mine – observing railway infrastructure. I’ll keep this brief as I appreciate I’m really scrapping the barrel of a cycling blog, when I resort to describing railway bridges observed on route.
A freightliner on the Banbury to Oxford railway with a viaduct nearer by. This is near Souldern, I was dissappointed not to get a better view of the viaduct after cycling 30+ miles but it is all training I suppose. I do like seeing freight trains because it means less lorries on the road. If only we could transport more by rail…
The point where two railway lines meet south of Banbury, near Aynho.
Heyford station and Heyford canal. Two forms of transport.
That’s the great thing about Cycling Uphill, you never know what’s going to appear – One day, hill climb intervals, the next day pictures of Oxford cyclists. Today pictures of canal boats by a quiet Oxfordshire train station. You win some you lose some. But tune in next week, for the amazing highlights of the year. Possibly.
no doubt all your future rides will now be logged by GCHQ after photographing critical parts of our national infrastructure.
An additional part-time hobby that might benefit the wider cycling community in this part of the world would be to report on proper coffee places 🙂
Yes, I felt like a nice warm coffee whilst standing on the windswept bridge at Aynho waiting for the 10.48 to trundle past