Cycle rides are like buses - you don't cycle for a few days and then once you start, you keep on cycling. It was much easier getting out on my bike today. I did put on a pair of leggings and I have started using proper gloves (with fingers as opposed to fingerless mitts). I am still using my cycling sandals - but have started wearing socks with them. Mind you it is getting colder - at 6pm the outside temperature is around 5C - fine if you are generating heat - but definitely weather requiring more clothing to be worn.
When travelling in India it was noticeable that the British contingent (well my son and I) were quite happy eating hot and spicy curries compared with the American contingent. i know hardly scientific - but it matches my own anecdotal views - it is easy to find an Indian Restaurant in the UK - it is quite difficult int he US, not impossible but not at all easy. At least in the places I have visited.
One of the regions we visited - Kerala as a reputation for spice trading and some of our group stocked up on spices in a significant way - so one part of the US is going to change. But why is the UK so keen on curries. Well the BBC published a piece today entitled "How Britain Got the Hots for Curry". The answer is perhaps more surprising than you think and has got a number of threads - you'll have to read it to find out what it concludes.
It was fairly windy today - but pleasantly sunny (and cool). Pretty much all of the leaves have fallen from the trees - and it is starting to fell quite wintry. Here is Swaffham Bulbeck Lode, bare trees and blue skies. It was near here that I met talked with two guys in a Pickup truck looking for a fallen Horse rider yesterday. This was taken at around 2pm - you can already see the shadows from the low sun.
Yet another leafless tree - clear skies, though and the moon can be seen to the top left of the picture. The track alongside the tree is called Rand Drove - I was not planning on cycling down it - but with the recent wet weather and tractor movements along it I would have needed some pretty fat tyres on my MTB to stand any chance of cycling along it.
With the early sunsets I am still enjoying the interesting skies - particularly around the Wicken Fen Nature Reserve. This Fen is called Baker's Fen and is a good place to get the sunset to reflect in the water-logged field.
Here is a picture taken from the same vantage point - but with a higher zoom factor. It has quite a dramatic feel about it compared with the previous picture.
At the moment I am listening to a hearing by the Scottish Transport Committee on research carried out to determine what factors affect the levels of cycling. In Scotland Ministers want to increase levels of cycling by 10% by 2020. A key factor is that many recognise the health benefits but perceive that cycling is too dangerous.
My view is that motorists have become more hostile. Today on my way back through White Fen a farmer stopped to comment on my front flashing light. He felt that it was confusing for motorists and not legal. I have just checked the CTC website on such matters and confirmed that it is legal. He was not at all hostile though - merely commenting on the confusion that the flashing light could cause to a motorist. We then put the world to rights and had a good chat. However it does demonstrate that as rules and regulations change it can be difficult to keep up with them and consequently it means that there is more opportunity for misunderstanding.
I want one of the jerseys you will find on this web-page - I pay road tax too! Another misconception many motorists have is that cyclists do not pay road tax.
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