Fire update, the Longstaff is Back and the Post Office works for me.

Before talking about getting ready for the cycle ride, which is in about four weeks, a quick update on the fire that I passed a couple of days ago. It turned out to be the premises of a company that hires out stretch limos and stretch "hummers" for weddings, hen parties and stag parties. They had recently taken delivery of a number of these vehicles from the US. The reports are that a battery charger might have started the fire. Several vehicles were destroyed in the fire leaving them short for bookings. When I cycle around the country lanes it is surreal to see an orange Humvee drive by - I wonder if the orange one was destroyed.

I picked up my Longstaff from Chris' Bikes (http://www.chrisbikes.co.uk/) on Friday around 4pm - even pushing it to the car it felt better. Apparently when English Policeman rode bicycles to patrol the streets they were told to bounce them slightly before setting off, the way the bicycle felt and sounded was a good indication of the "health" of the bike. I am not sure if it is true about the police but you can certainly tell if parts are loose or if the tyres are slightly flat and in my case if the back wheel is loose on its bearings. The Longstaff has had a new chain, rear set of cogs (block), rear brake bocks, one brake cable and new handlebar tape. It will be going back into the workshop in a couple of weeks to replace the headset (the thing that allows the handlebars and front wheel to turn freely - while of course the frame stay in the same direction) and to replace some more bits in the back wheel. The bike has done a fair number of miles and some of the tracks I cycle on are quite bumpy, which puts a lot of load onto some of the moving parts. The good thing about a bike though is it can be quickly transformed with some new bits.

I had stayed in all morning waiting for a new disk drive to be delivered. Having worked in the IT industry and learnt the hard way how important it is to make regular backups I backup all my data regularly along with a complete computer back up and I also duplicate all of my photographs (100Gb), music (40Gb) and of course work-related data (30Gb), unfortunately I have run out of backup disc space and bought a new 1Tb drive - unbelievable how cheap they are. The drive should allow more regular backups and allow me to keep backups for longer before re-using the drive.

After waiting in all morning I popped out for lunch with some friends and of course the Courier Company tried and failed to deliver the Drive. It will re-try on the next working day which is Monday. A pity the Supplier did not use the Post Office - they deliver at a pretty regular time each day and if they don't manage to deliver then I can collect undelivered parcels at the local Post Office, 2 minutes away by bike. In the case of the Courier Company it has returned the undelivered disk drive to a central base 30miles away. It is no wonder the world is running out of petrol (gas), I can even track the miles my disk drive is clocking up on the Internet- but it still seems crazy.

After picking up my bike and not needing to be around for the delivery and with the sun shining I just had to pop out to try it. Although I shortened the normal distance to around 32Km/20miles I still found myself returning in the gloom. I even turned on my rear light - I use a 10 LED light (www.cateye.com/en/product_detail/550) in flashing mode. I find when I am driving a car the flashing lights on bicycles help them stand out and make it clear they are bicycles since other vehicles are not allowed to use a flashing light. I will have to start routinely carrying a front light since the odd unplanned puncture (not that I ever plan punctures) can easily delay me to the point where it gets dark. On country lanes, even with my advancing years, I can still cycle in the dark, the real benefit of the light is that it makes oncoming cars dip their lights. Believe me when cycling at night and facing a car coming the other way, with its main headlamps, on it is virtually impossible to see anything on a bicycle. I don't cycle without lights at night though and I tend to use powerful LED lights which whilst cold in colour (blue) make for a powerful light.

Last year after cycling around a 100 miles up to Kings Lynn and back I found myself cycling through WIcken Fen at night - it was wonderful, although I did cycle a little more slowly, falling in the Lodes at night wouldn't be any fun. It was quite serene. Yesterday though not dark, the Lode through Wicken Fen was very still and gave a lovely mirror image of the trees.

A bridge, which is only a few miles further on shows how quickly it gets dark once it starts. This bridge features a lot in my pictures.

The last picture shows a slightly more urban landscape - it all looks better with a dramatic sky in the background. This part of England (East Anglia) is so flat the skies seem large.