Oxford to Mont Ventoux

I've been preparing for this for a while now, and I can't wait to start. I will be cycling from Oxford to Avignon and the notorious MONT VENTOUX in southern France! Trying to find a cheap way for friends and family to follow my progress, I came up with this solution:

I will be sending sms messages to Twitter @Fireup with my location (coordinates). This information is then automatically passed to "Fire Eagle", which in its turn passes the location details to "blocloc".

My last location is visible on the little map below, and if you click on the link "View track history" Google Maps will open displaying my current and previous locations, in other words: track history!
I will make the odd comment on Twitter as well.

I was here last:


View track history

Ridgeway

As mentioned in an earlier blog post we're walking the Ridgeway this year. In this post you can follow our progress. Below is a map of how far we are. I will update this after every leg.
When viewed in Google Maps, all the photos and all details of how we arranged our transport to and from the Ridgeway, will be accessible. Or click here to download the KML file


View Larger Map + Photos

Photos:

To view these photos BIGGER in a slide show click on: Slide Show

A walk up Ben Cruachan

During the Easter weekend we were up in bonnie Scotland again and did some fabulous walking. That's quite a while ago, I admit, but now I have figured out a new and exciting way to present a walk we did!
The route can be viewed in 3D in the new Google Earth web gadget. Also you can see the photos exactly where they were taken. Below is just a picture of the gadget, but if you click on it, it will open bigger in a new window. Once you have installed the required add-on you will be able to see our walk in 3D on your screen, pan around the landscape, and see photos where they were taken. Have a go! I love this. If you want to have a closer look, you can also download the kml file here, so you can enjoy it in your own Google Earth full version.

Ridgeway leg 1

Last Sunday we started to walk the Ridgeway, our long-distance challenge for the start of 2009. It's an ancient 139 km route from roughly Avebury to Ivinghoe Beacon in the Chilterns.
We parked the car in Ogbourne St George and got on a local bus to Marlborough. A second bus took us to Avebury from where it is about a 3 km walk to the start of the Ridgeway at Overton Hill. From Overton Hill we walked 16 km until we were just South of Ogbourne St George and walked back to the car. Soon after it was dark... Perfect.

Scotland 2008 Autumn

Here are some photos of our holiday to Scotland which included the World Stone Skimming Championship!

Photos:

To view these photos BIGGER in a slide show click on: Slide Show.

A weekend in West Lulworth

Dorset is a beautiful place. At the end of April we stayed in a B&B in West Lulworth and did some lovely coastal walking. Below I plotted the routes that we walked on Saturday and Sunday. By clicking on the View Larger Map link you get a better view in Google Maps and are able to see the elevation profiles of each walk. There are also links to the KML files which you can download to view the walks and profiles in Google Earth.

Route map for Saturday:

View Larger Map

Google Earth KML file

Route map for Sunday:

View Larger Map

Google Earth KML file

Photos:


To view these photos BIGGER in a slide show click on: Slide Show.

Ronde van Vlaanderen

We went to Belgium to watch the famous cycling race Ronde van Vlaanderen. And on the Saturday before the race, we had a chance to taste what it's like by cycling a shorter 75 km version of the route. It rained all day, but it was brilliant! Next year we'll be back for the 140 km version. We watched the professionals on Sunday at the steepest section of the "Muur van Geraardsbergen". Great atmosphere.

Photos:


To view these photos BIGGER in a slide show click on: Slide Show.

Our 75 km route:

View Larger Map


This route is also published on MapMyRide

Oslo

Here are some photos of our long weekend to Oslo.

Photos:

To view these photos BIGGER in a slide show click on: Slide Show.

Hoar Frost (nl: rijp)

It was minus 6 degrees Centegrade when I made a pre-breakfast walk from my hotel in Bramhope, in the North of England. All night it had been very foggy and bitterly cold. This covered everything with a thick layer of hoar frost. Here are some pictures:



To view these photos BIGGER in a slide show click on: Slide Show.

Christmas holiday 2007

We travelled to The Netherlands by train and boat this christmas holiday. The ferry crossing was overnight to Hoek van Holland where we arrived on Saturday 7:30. After a beautiful train journey trough a frozen landscape we arrived in IJlst where we immediately went ice skating at the local "ijsbaan" the same afternoon. Sunday we spent with my brother and sister and their kids (see pictures). Monday we went to the Sauna. Christmas day we took the train to Hindeloopen and played Fluxx in the evening (as we did almost every evening). Boxing day we left early to Leeuwarden to sail with my brother's barge to Groningen. We set off early but after about 15 km had to stop because a bridge wouldn't open for us, and we had to wait for the next day. Thursday we arrived in Groningen and had dinner and drinks in town. It was great to walk around this town again where I lived for 13 years. On Saturday evening we had to catch the ferry again at 22:00, back to Harwich. We left early from Groningen and visited the Zoo in Rotterdam, Blijdorp. The male Gorilla, Bokito, reached the news headlines last year all over the world after escaping from his enclosure and attacking a visitor who had been annoying him for months. Our ferry crossing was brilliant and 11:00 Sunday morning we arrived home again.

Photos:

To view these photos BIGGER in a slide show click on: Slide Show.

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:

To view these photos BIGGER in a slide show click on: Slide Show.

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:

View Larger Map + Photos!



Route photos:


To view these photos BIGGER in a slide show click on: Slide Show.

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).


View Larger Map