Just cycled to work on Reggie Ridgeback and my feet were frozen when I arrived; George Jemmott mentioned that he had purposefully not used the cleats on his bike on his recent ride from Milan to Calais and I can see why – they are incompatible with cold spring mornings! I also, very nearly, had my first cleat-related fall off the bike; I stopped at Tesco’s at 6am en route to school, completely forgot my feet were tethered to the pedals and stumbled before rescuing my dignity by an emergency yank of the left foot from the pedal. Still some way to go before I am comfortable with the new bike…. the gears, the position, the cleats; I do need a long ride to embed me into the Ridgeback!

Talking of long-distance cycling, Jim has been to see Mark Beaumont and come back with a glowing report;

Just went to see Mark Beaumont in Barrow last night. He is a true gentleman. His speaking skill is evident on stage and the first hour and a bit flew by, book bought and signed to my daughter in the interval and he even had time to exchange just a few kind words. and the last bit about the Americas showed me just how much carrying a camera would change your life on a journey like this. I would personally prefer the journey without the publicity but I suppose to enable him to do these things he needs it.
I hope this fellow travels all the world one Country at a time with a small camera and a bike and turns into the David Attenborough of the cycling world! He deserves it.