Anniversary Cake

Ann surprised me with this amazing cake! It's a chocolate sponge cake with icing, with on top three cats and us made out of marzipan. Me, with glasses and orange t-shirt. Ann, in her brown skirt and Olive on her lap. Rose, from marbled marzipan to make her look like a tabby. And Callum with his white eye patch. The cake shop where they make these cakes is in the covered market in Oxford and I always enjoy looking in the window. The cake was, and still is, delicious.

From Anniversary Cake

Le Manoir

Last month, on a Thursday, we had a wonderful evening in restaurant Le Manoir Aux Quat' Saisons. It's only 10 miles East of Oxford, in the village Great Milton. We enjoyed an evening centered around biodynamically produced wines. The wine and food was absolutely amazing, and to hear about the secrets of biodynamics was fascinating. I'll never forget this evening at the two-Michelin starred "Manoir". Hopefully we can come back sometimes for lunch and see the place in daylight.

Our menu of the evening:

Ludlow and surroundings

Last weekend we stayed in a lovely cottage on Bircher Common, Herefordshire, and visited Ludlow (Shropshire) on the Saturday. Ludlow is a very pretty town with a church as big as a cathedral and with a great castle. See photos: De Grey's is a famous cafe. Croft Ambrey is an ancient hill-top fort where we walked to from the cottage. Bircher Common is a National Trust site.

Photos:

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Llanvihangel Crucorney to Bryngwyn

start: Llanvihangel Crucorney [SO313198]
finish: Bryngwyn
distance: 60 km

I did this bike ride last weekend, as an alternative to going horse riding. The ride went basically from the B&B where we stayed overnight to the stables in Bryngwyn. The roads were very quiet and single track. Cycling up the Llanthony valley was beautiful and the ruin of Llanthony Priory is worth a visit, but I did that two years ago. Only at the end of the valley the road got steep, before reaching the Gospel Pass. The view just over the pass was great over the Wye Valley. We had lunch in Painscastle and after a curry I did another 20 km before meeting up with the horse people again in Bryngwyn.

Route map:

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Route photos:


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This route is also published on MapMyRide

Crossing Morecambe Bay

Ok, this has nothing to do with cycling but I'm going to add it anyway. On September 23rd we did a guided crossing of Morecambe Bay, together with about three hundred others! Great and surprisingly not-muddy. I don't have any photos unfortunately but I did record our route on my GPS (see map).


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