28 May - 3 June: Grooving again

Mon:  Ran to pool, swam 60 lengths, ran back, felt good.  Mowed lawn, weeded, washed stuff, Granny to Dentist, prepared meal, Georgina, John and Sandra (from NZ) round for dinner - sitting outside on patio, a first for the year!  A busy day.

Tue : First thing, rRun, swam 80 lengths, ran back, felt much more tired than yesterday.  Shopping for Granny.  Walked to choir in evening in shorts.  This can't be an English summer???

Wed:  Cycled to Chiltern Winery to check route for next Wed.  Lots of lanes and hills going, 24 miles in 2 :04 hrs.  Sat in sun in courtyard and refuelled with cup of tea and biscuits:

Decided to take it flatter on way back, so via Fingest over to A40, through High Wycombe (busy traffic/lorries) to Beaconsfield, then the usual route back.  Kept up a much higher speed on the A40, and it didn't feel like there were as many hills. 24 miles back in 1:48hrs.

Wind down in hottub.

Thu: Pretty creaky from yesterdays ride, so no exercise.

Fri: Run to gym and 80 length swim.  In evening off to Wilcox wedding near Guilford, where we stayed the night at the Manor Hotel.  Fantastic event with great speeches, from the heart.

Sat: Popped into Guilford for coffee and a little shopping wander, for shopping its pretty good

Sun: Swim.  G & N for lunch.  Down to Steyning for pub meal with Chris, Jill (sailing crew) and Jon, then onto the 11pm Newhaven ferry.

24 - 27 May: Iceland

Thu: Early swim, only 50 lengths but went a bit harder this time, need to keep this up, only 3 weeks to tri!  Our tour organisers and leaders, G&P picked us up at 10:15 to go to LHR for the flight to Rekjarvik.  Flight full but the 3 hours went by.  Easily picked up hire car and drove to find our hotel in the centre.  No signs on the buildings so we found what I though was No 45 looking very empty.  P rang up and it was the opposite side of the street!  Took hotel's recommended restaurant down street for a faux Italian/Iceland experience, walked around town in the wintery weather.

A viking boat, of sorts.

view up to the church and our hotel, very iconic.

Fri: Drove SE to see Ping????? (seat of oldest parliament and a rift between the tectonic plates), Geysir, Gullfoss falls, more falls, end of glacier, the back to a recommended lobster restaurant, yummy.  Weather iffy and not warm.

Sat: Puffin trip.  Excellent, I have to insert our photographer par excellence Patrick's pictures here:

 Drove up SW to see Snef?????jokul (Verne's journey to the Centre of the Earth).  Weather very very wet.  Highlight was a candle shop that served up hot dogs, then  a great fish soup in a tiny cottage by the sea.

close by coffee shop to hotel

yellow (ish) sand amongst the black lava

fish soup shack

Sun: Walked around town, up Church tour, drove around coast and unfinished beach to Perlan (underwhelming) then big loop via fish drying racks (a spooky scene from Alien), hot bubbling springs, Blue Lagoon and back to airport.  Slept on plane so for me it was an easy flight.  Home by 9:30.

so, where's the hot water and crowds????

Erik Leifur statue ans hotel

The church tower.

Gill communing with something/someone

bye bye Iceland, sun at last just as we are leaving.

21 - 23 May: Back in the groove

Mon: cycled to gym and 1.5km swim. Granny duties at dentist etc.

Tue: Waited in for parcel delivery and piano tuner. Fettled bike, removing mudguards, new better brake blocks, general clean. Out for 10km Sarrat loop. Uploaded route to Strava and saw my position on the leader board for the North Hill segment. Good idea to see how you improve.

Wed: Ran to gym and swam. G. to dentist again.

18 - 20 May: Lakes (cycle and walk) 58th birthday

Fri - Left at 6:30 to get to C&Ls for 7:20.  Off at 8ish to pick up Carol and good journey up M1/M6 to Drunken Duck for lunch via Windermere ferry.  With Chris, got on bikes at Blea Tarn turning for Wrynose and Hardknott Pass.  It was tough, we stopped a couple of times for a breather on each.  At 30% my front wheel was lifting off.

Oh dear, what have I let myself in for?

One hill over, one more to go

We then cycled round to Wasdale Head, with a headwind for the last 5 miles.  21 miles in 2:15hrs, not bad considering.

Sat - Good full breakfast, and left Inn at 9:40 with the team of 16.  Direct route up to Mickledore which was in cloud, then to Scafell Pike, still in cloud, then down via Lingmell Col, whern the sun appeared.

A  motley crew

Are we lost?

lovely hair-dos

58 years, top of England.

Yet again I fail to see the view from Scafell Pike.  Straight up and down, with some long pauses for lunch (kelly kettle brew up!) and sleeping on way down.

Well deserved pint in the sunshine outside Inn, bath, then celebration meal.  Great crowd and good fun.

Aldi presents!

Sun - Glorious sunshine start, so after breakfast Linda led an 'eWalk' for 1:30hr along Mosedale.  Lovely sheep and lambs.  Towards end, weather closed in a bit.

Old pack bridge at back of Inn

view back to Lingmell and Scafell

Mosedale

On drive back, stopped at Broughton Mills for lunch at the Blacksmiths Arms and for a look at the Mill, owned by neighbours from Newcastle, where we had a couple of holidays many years ago - as kids it was wonderful and a seminal lake district attachment.  It hadn't really changed, but the pub had a bar and served food

Back home by 8pm, hot tub and bed.