Back o' th' Hill
Ooh, ouch! I've got a bit of lower back pain today. My neck and shoulders aren't too bad though and my legs are ok.
Paul and I went on a bike ride yesterday and did 26 miles in all. The day started out overcast, but then brightened up mid-morning. We set out at around noon and got back around 3.30 p.m. I think, having stopped for lunch at Back o' th' Hill Farm, the Buffers cafe, in Storiths. We had another unscheduled stop near Sandbeds, just outside of Addingham, when Paul got a puncture in his rear tyre. He mended it while I did 'girly' things like holding the pump for him! I also helped by pointing out that it would be a lot easier to put the new inner tube in if he fed it through the side of the tyre that was off the rim; and later pointed out - as he pumped the tyre up that there was a small portion of it still not bedded in on the rim.
Paul had suggested a ride out to Ilkley and back, along Weston Lane (on this side of the Wharfe). I then suggested that we might continue on from Ilkley, out through Nesfield and Beamsley to Storiths. This is a route that I'm very familiar with. I thought that Paul and I had cycled it together before, but he says he only discovered it recently, while I was away, so it must be over three years since I last cycled it!
The Buffers cafe has been open for years. It must be about 16-17 years since I first went there, on a ride with Bradford Cyclists Action Group. Storiths is a tiny hamlet, about a mile south of Bolton Abbey, off the A59 Skipton to Harrogate Road. The farm where the cafe is situated ("Back o' th' Hill") does seem to be a working farm. There are always calves stabled in the yard. The cafe itself is a bit of an oddity as it is nowhere near a railway line but - as the name implies - it has a railway theme. There is a model railway display upstairs and lots of railway memorabilia. The people who own the place are obviously railway enthusiasts. My ex father-in-law, John Gould, would have loved it.
We were lucky with the weather as it started raining about 30 minutes after we got home, as we were setting off to drive into Bradford.
MAP 1
Outward route from Otley (i.e. home) via Weston (point 1 on map), Ilkley and Beamsley (point 2 on map) to Storiths, near Bolton Abbey.
MAP 2
Return route, from Storiths on to Bolton Abbey, then back via Addingham (point 1 on map), Sandbeds and Ilkley (point 2 on map). From Ilkley we returned along our outward route the back road on the north side of the River Wharfe, through Asquith and Weston, as shown on the first map. We avoided the A65, apart from the section between Sandbeds and Ilkley.
It was a beautiful day. When I first got back here to Otley, on April 26th, the blossom was not yet out on the trees, although it had been in London, 200 miles south. The spells of sunny weather these past few days have brought all the buds on the trees out. The grass and trees are various shades of green, with pink and white blossoms. The white sugar-icing of the hawthorn (May trees) is particularly beautiful - they are always my favourites. I also love the creamy candelabra of the magnolia and the pink and white blossoms of the cherry trees. Both are abundant at the moment.
Paul and I went on a bike ride yesterday and did 26 miles in all. The day started out overcast, but then brightened up mid-morning. We set out at around noon and got back around 3.30 p.m. I think, having stopped for lunch at Back o' th' Hill Farm, the Buffers cafe, in Storiths. We had another unscheduled stop near Sandbeds, just outside of Addingham, when Paul got a puncture in his rear tyre. He mended it while I did 'girly' things like holding the pump for him! I also helped by pointing out that it would be a lot easier to put the new inner tube in if he fed it through the side of the tyre that was off the rim; and later pointed out - as he pumped the tyre up that there was a small portion of it still not bedded in on the rim.
Paul had suggested a ride out to Ilkley and back, along Weston Lane (on this side of the Wharfe). I then suggested that we might continue on from Ilkley, out through Nesfield and Beamsley to Storiths. This is a route that I'm very familiar with. I thought that Paul and I had cycled it together before, but he says he only discovered it recently, while I was away, so it must be over three years since I last cycled it!
The Buffers cafe has been open for years. It must be about 16-17 years since I first went there, on a ride with Bradford Cyclists Action Group. Storiths is a tiny hamlet, about a mile south of Bolton Abbey, off the A59 Skipton to Harrogate Road. The farm where the cafe is situated ("Back o' th' Hill") does seem to be a working farm. There are always calves stabled in the yard. The cafe itself is a bit of an oddity as it is nowhere near a railway line but - as the name implies - it has a railway theme. There is a model railway display upstairs and lots of railway memorabilia. The people who own the place are obviously railway enthusiasts. My ex father-in-law, John Gould, would have loved it.
We were lucky with the weather as it started raining about 30 minutes after we got home, as we were setting off to drive into Bradford.
MAP 1
Outward route from Otley (i.e. home) via Weston (point 1 on map), Ilkley and Beamsley (point 2 on map) to Storiths, near Bolton Abbey.
MAP 2
Return route, from Storiths on to Bolton Abbey, then back via Addingham (point 1 on map), Sandbeds and Ilkley (point 2 on map). From Ilkley we returned along our outward route the back road on the north side of the River Wharfe, through Asquith and Weston, as shown on the first map. We avoided the A65, apart from the section between Sandbeds and Ilkley.
It was a beautiful day. When I first got back here to Otley, on April 26th, the blossom was not yet out on the trees, although it had been in London, 200 miles south. The spells of sunny weather these past few days have brought all the buds on the trees out. The grass and trees are various shades of green, with pink and white blossoms. The white sugar-icing of the hawthorn (May trees) is particularly beautiful - they are always my favourites. I also love the creamy candelabra of the magnolia and the pink and white blossoms of the cherry trees. Both are abundant at the moment.
posted by Anna at
11:40 PERMALINK
2 Comments:
Over the years I to have had similar problems with inner tubes. So can appreciate the fustration with changing a punctured tube. I now add a little air to the tube when I have it inside the tyre just enough to give it a bit of form so i can poke it all inside the tyre neatly before I secure the tyre rim back onto the wheel. When that task is completed I make sure the wheel can slip back onto the bike frame slipping it in between the brake pads. I find that can catch you out when the tyre is fully inflated too early. Heh remember the travel tips? x
By
Grump, at May 08, 2006
Thanks for the tip, Auntie Mark. I know the basics of changing a bike tyre - you're talking to someone who once stripped down and rebuilt a bike from the frame upwards you know! Paul knows the basics too, it's just that having prised one side of the tyre off the rim to remove the punctured tube, he was then trying - for some reason best known to himself - to feed the new tube in under the other side of the tyre that was still on the rim, until I pointed out that it was easier the other way around (being the smartarse that I am).
By
Anna, at May 08, 2006
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