Infection rates are rising so new measures have been introduced from Monday. No gatherings of more than 6 people. They have removed the household limit though. So it can be 6 people from 6 different households. I guess it makes enforcement easier. Tony came round to fix a broken radiator valve. We went for a swim and managed 40 mins. Went to pick my bike up from Evans on Tuesday morning and guess what? No new pedals in spite of being told it wouldn't be a problem they dont have any in stock. I hate that shop. Managed to get some online without a problem. The final part for my Ridgeback, a chain ring, had arrived last week so phoned up to see it it was ready but they had sent the wrong one. It's due in tomorrow but I'm not holding my breath. In case I haven't mentioned it there is supposed to be world wide shortage of bikes and parts as so many people have started cycling because of covid. That's to keep fit and avoid public transport. Restarted work on the bay window. Cooked a stir fry worked on my new song. Finished The Polish Officer by Alan Furst on Wednesday morning which I really enjoyed. Did the usual spot if cleaning in the morning. Went for another 40 minute swim and did some more stripping of the window. There's not much on TV at the moment so we re-watched The Bridge which we enjoyed so now we are re-watching the second series. There was a Mansfield Rd walk on Thursday arranged by Kelvin. We got a bus to the Red Lion at Upper Basildon and walked to Pangbourne. Sue, John and Paul also came.
M was supposed to come too but had a hair appointment. Really good walk most of which I hadn't done before. We passed St Bartholomew's church Lower Basildon where Jethro Tull came from and is buried.
Churches tend to be open so people can go in any time as there are some restrictions on servicesWe then walked down to the river where I used to fish and into Pangbourne. The plan was to have a quick pint in The Swan and then get the same bus back. However we waited for 20 mins and no bus so we got a train. We then saw the bus at the start of Oxford Rd on the walk back from the station. M had had her hair coloured. Streaked, some blond, some very red. Looks great. Finished off Sailor's Daughter in the evening. Friday was the annual cycle the number of miles Reading got points ride. This year it was 56 which co-incidentally is about the same as my planned 5 brewerys ride so we combined the two.
Graham dropped out so that left just me, Andy, Kelvin and Dave. Lodden was first on the list and we half halves of Ferrymans with an extra half for top ups. Next up was Binghams where they only have a shop and a few barrels outside to sit on. Had 5 halves of Mystic Endeavour which is a very hoppy IPA with a hint of burntness like a stout.
An interesting sculpture in the unit opposite.
Next was Sirencraft. We passed the Royal's new training ground at Bearwood Park on the way.
We also passed Hogwood, the old training ground. We dropped down to 4 halves of Soundwave and had our sarnies sitting in the sun. There was then a 20 plus mile ride over to West Berks. We moved onto pints of Maharaja but it wasn't as good as it could be and there was also a bit of a country smell. We bombed back to Double Barrelled which is another industrial unit down Portman Rd. I hadn't been before. It was really busy and almost exactly 56 miles.
Purely by co-incidence we had pints of 56K Modem. Kelvin's daughter Amy was there with Ben and John Luther. A good ride and I remembered the route. M had cooked a lamb tagine when I got back so settled back to watch TV with a bottle of red. Saw a good documentary about Hendrix at Woodstock. Great stuff. Did a bit of gardening on Saturday morning. My pedals turned up but they are all plastic including the thread so didn't really fancy using them. Found an old pair in the shed though so went down to Evans to get them fixed along with the back brake which was catching the wheel. They sorted it and even gave me a mask so I'll ease off them a bit. My Ridgeback is also ready so I'll pick it up next week. Decided to make pizzas for tea. I had volunteered to do October's society walk so we did a trial run on Sunday with Kelvin.. Nice walk, from Crookham Common near Thatcham, new territory. A lot of it by the river Enborne.
Tried the pub at the bottom of Ashford Hill I had found on one of my lockdown rides but unfortunately it wasn't open. Had a nice pint of Hophead in the Hinds Head at Aldermaston instead.Very quiet. The last time I'd arranged a walk there it was heaving. Had to ask for track and trace which seemed odd. The rest of the covid stuff was fine though. M cooked nice steaks for teas. We finished off watching Criminal UK, a really good series.
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