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  • With Mrs Stew away for the weekend (at a hen weekend in Brighton, no less), the weekend has been guilt-free cycling time - amid other activities which we won't go into here...

    Saturday: not trusting the suspiciously good forecast (I've been fooled by that trick before), nor the quality of the Kentish roads, I took the crosser out for a 50 mile spin in the early dawn light. A lease of life with a new chain and cassette (with a 27t gear) had made the shifting crisper than it had ever been on a bike that normally gets the Fritzel treatment (abused and then locked in a dark shed). It felt good to get out there before the world woke up, and it was only really on the way back that I saw many other riders out. Some highlights: spinning up Chalkpit Lane with a new fancy gear; Pilgrims Way - I love that road (bar the fly-tipping); and stumbling across a herd of dear casually chilling in the middle of the deserted road
    http://connect.garmin.com/activity/273950398

    Sunday was a casual stroll around Surrey with a couple of mates. Got back on the proper road bike for the first time in 3 months and boy does it feel fast/light/twitchy/fun. One downside was discovered relatively soon into the ride when the back wheel punctured on Priory Road but I was busting for a wazz so badly that I had to limp to the toilets on the rim before doing anything about it. My Michelin Pro Race 3s had decided to glue themselves to both the rim and the tube, which made the change slightly arduous, but much cursing later I was on my way.

    As the day got progressively warmer, the fog lifted to reveal a smorgasboard of weekend riders - some of whom had even learnt that a nod or a wave is the appropriate response to the loon to bellows 'morning' at every passer-by. This was a day for shooting the breeze - and, with the exception of a half-arsed attempt at speed up Box Hill, much breeze was shot. A friend of a friend runs a cycling cafe in Ashtead (www.bikebeans.co.uk) which we visited for the first time. They serve very fine Kingdom coffee with locally made cakes and lashings of smiles. Plus they have an outdoor sun-trap terrace which was bliss. Definitely worth a trip if you're in the area, and infinitely better than the National Trust fare you get at the top of Box.

    Garmin says over 6000 calories burned, and a top speed of over 60mph. Wishful thinking, possibly, but I'll definitely take it
    http://connect.garmin.com/activity/274344840

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