Looking back Part 1

Not going out today. From my running days, it is important to have a day off from exercise to assist recovery.  A good day to do it as the temperature has fallen to just above freezing and there might be some snow about.

I have been surprised by the amount of visits to this site and more so by the audience. Blogspot lets you see who, and when, your audience visit and to see that people from Sweden, China, Germany,France as well as family and friends from Canada, USA, Australia and New Zealand have a look at the blog.  

If you are one of those visitors by the way, please leave a comment if you can.

As there are no photos today, this will be a good opportunity to look back at some earlier ones and give these visitors a chance to look at my little part of the UK.

The start of it all

Following 25 years of long distance running, a heart problem, and a dodgy knee meant a change of life style was necessary. It was always a target to migrate to two wheels when two legs packed up, so in May 2011, an old mountain bike that my son had left in my garden when he emigrated, was reconditioned and used on a 8 mile ride. A couple of months later a better form of transport was purchased and a proper road bike joined the stable!

On the 6th October 2011 I made it to Stratford where this photo was taken. You may recognise Falstaff in the background from yesterdays blog.

Queen Victoria

Surprisingly, no more pictures were taken for nearly 12 months! It was a project that I had always had in the back of my mind but had not actually started. In early September 2012, I went to Leamington Spa, my home town, and 'captured' Queen Victoria. She stands in the middle of the town outside the town hall. During the war a German bomb landed on some shops nearby and the statue was moved an inch on the plinth. No other damage occurred.

The Bandstand

A few day later, the bandstand in the Pump Rood Gardens Leamington was targeted and added to the photo album. They were published on Facebook and some favourable comments were received.

Coventry Cathedral

The minor interest from friends in the travels on my bikes encouraged me to take a different slant on my bike rides. Rather than keep grinding out the miles on the same old lanes near my home it was time to give my riding routes some thought.  Actually, that added to my hobby, getting maps out, checking on the weather (and where the hills are), and deciding what could be interesting and photogenic. One of the first places that took me away from the normal routes was Coventry. A ride to the Cathedral was about 20 miles in total and the below photo was taken and published, along with others, on Facebook.

This continued for some time and quite a few friends and family encouraged me to seek a wider audience than Facebook. The options were considered and blogging seemed to be the answer. It took a bit of time to get into the technology but we have arrived at last. There are a lot more images to be presented on here but they can wait until another time.

Thanks for sharing this with me and don't forget, comments would be appreciated. Just click on No Comments or comments below.