Day 4. 79km (83955kms 8yrs)
I’d mentioned to Graham my rear light wasn’t working. There being scarcely enough hours to complete my two remaining rides into London in daylight he gifted me an LED rear light. What a champ, thanks Graham! It had been great to catch up with an old friend and host I hadn’t seen since pre Covid.
It was zero degrees when I set out and though a brief steep climb warmed me a little, the icy wind on the descent had my face, hands, and feet numb from cold. Midway to Oxford I found a church in which to eat my sandwich out of the wind and was delighted to find a kettle and tea bags! What a result.
Having been unable to visit Shakespeare’s grave yesterday I was succesful in finding Tolkien’s grave in Wolvercote, just north of Oxford before revisiting some of my favourite spots in the city. This is the last place I lived in the UK, but as a silly twenty year old never took advantage of all the free museums, wild swimming spots, and great cycling. I did make good use of the pubs though, revisiting today The Turf, infamous for a multitude of celebrities’ antics over the years including Bob Hawke’s Guinness world record yard of ale.
Heading south out of the city I poked my nose in as far as is allowed at Hogwarts AKA Christ Church College, mere minutes away from my old flat where friends and family celebrated my going away party half a lifetime ago.
Short of time now; down the very busy A4074 to Warborough and hosts Clive & Karen who welcomed me back to their gorgeous guest cabin. One more day to London..
Many thanks to Antonie who PayPaled me during my winter break! ⭐️
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#oxford #biketouring #travel
6 Comments
On your way! Yay! Oxford looks really interesting.
Today I took my first ride since 19 Sep 2024! Yipes! Five months off the bike! That's absolutely terrible. We had about 2,5 months of Gudrun's illness and constant trips back and forth to the hospital. Then, months of rainy and very cold weather. At my age, if there's a danger of ice I'm not riding. Today was a dreary day, but no rain and the temperatures were between 11°C and 16°C. A heat wave! I only rode 35 km. My old body really felt the period off the bike. In the last months, even though I continued fitness stuff on my cross trainer, rowing machine, and weights, it isn't the same. My normal ride includes a few fairly steep (10-11% grades). Though I didn't have to get off and push, I certainly was riding the hills with a much lower gear. There's much training needed before I reach a level of fitness where I'll be confident to tour for a few weeks. But, that's the plan for this summer.
So nice to see a parish church that isn't locked during the week.
My late friend Dr. Kenneth Cragg, the Archbishop of Oxford, invited me to visit him in the 1990s. I regret that I did not make it.
Will you get many opportunities to free camp in the UK or is it too populated?
tried to message you but email will not send,i have done the oxford run,what village church did you stay at, i use to live at a church for 2 years,my friend said i am an existentialist ,i need to know the name of the village not the church,did you go the fish hill run i am crap at technology
i could of died when i came back from oxford,are you a medic