Friday 23 April 2010

Andy did go cycling last weekend...

Andy has just pointed out to me, quite rightly, that other members of the NoVisibleLycra team DID go cycling last weekend. In fact, if I recall, Andy was up at the crack of dawn last weekend, earlier than normal, and was cycling down Gangers Hill and doing a bit of off-roading too. What a guy! He texted me some pictures to prove that he hadn't lolled around in bed. If you look at the previous post, you will notice, Andy, that I've amended the headline accordingly.

Hopefully, I'll be suitably self-motivated tomorrow morning as Andy isn't going tomorrow. We'll see. I'm not planning on a late night so it might be possible. The aim is to meet Jon at Hunger's End in Merstham, except that I'll be taking the long way round.

Avid readers of this blog will know that a few weeks back my brother and cousin managed to ship two Moggridge pianos over from the USA. Well, the reason behind that, as I probably explained in the post, was that our father has been doing a lot of family tree research and is in the process of putting the finishing touches to a book, which he'll either publish properly through the usual channels or simply have a few copies printed up for the family.

Anyway, Exmoor, where I went last week instead of cycling, is where the Moggridge family originate from; Dad told me to visit the church at Molland, which I did, and there I found the graves of two Moggridges. Pictured are the two graves in question. The conventional slab like stone belongs to an Elizabeth Mogridge while the one with the cross is that of Mary Ann Mogridge – weirdly, both christian names exist in our current family, although we now spell our surname as Moggridge with an extra g. I've got a notepad with all the details of those occupying the grave and when I find it, I'll post the details. That's the church pictured above on the right and those are the graves, the one with the cross in the foreground and the slab just beyond it to the left.

No cycling last weekend – for Matthew! Andy went, though!

No cycling last week as I went away for the weekend and couldn't very well get back in the morning from Exmoor where I was staying. But this weekend, I'm back in the saddle and, as I write this, it's touch and go as to whether Andy will be there or not. I'm currently awaiting a call, having telephoned him from the new Marston's pub in Caterham, the Ladybird, where I'd been enjoying a chicken and roasted peppers sandwich and a pint of Brakspear's. Very civilised, especially on a hot day like today. Here's hoping it'll stay this way for the weekend.

A map of the Exmoor region. 
If it is hot and sunny, I plan to get up early and head off in the direction of Gangers Hill en route to the caff in Merstham (the caff being Hunger's End). I certainly need the exercise as I've been drinking a fair bit of beer of late. In fact, as the weather hots up generally, now might be the time to start cycling every day, early in the morning.

I can't remember if I've mentioned the fact that I had my bike serviced the other day. Cost me £103! Still, it needed doing; the gears kept on getting stuck, there was a lot of creaking going on and, yeah, it needed to be done.

Talk about rambling! I'm waiting for somebody to approve copy before my magazine, the one I edit, goes to press. Still, there you have it. Exmoor was good for cycling, not that I did any, but reading in one of those tourist newspapers, one I picked up near Dulverton, I discovered that Exmoor is ideal for mountain biking. There are tracks for both experienced and inexperienced riders and what's more it's all off road. I did spy a couple of mud-spattered Specialized mountain bikes at the Tarr Steps near to where we were staying and it got me thinking about a NoVisibleLycra Field Trip. Thoughts?