Cycling in the Springtime

Yesterday was one of those perfect days. Blue skies, sunny (but not too sunny), warm (but not too warm). Went out to do some shopping in a complex about 20 minutes cycle away, and took some pictures of the cycle paths I use (since you're always asking!).

The thing about England is, although it's cold, rainy and cloudy a lot of the times, once the weather turns nice (which is amazingly rare), the whole place transforms into the pretty England you always read about in Enid Blyton books or tourist brochures. Maybe after being deprived proper weather for most of the year, any amount of blue sky is treated with hysterical joy over here. So, I took my bike, camera, and set of to the shops!

Anyway, as the pictures show, there was a huge explosion of flowery mayhem all over the place. Wild flowers everywhere, the trees were flowering, my back garden was flowering, flowers growing through cracks in the pavement...you get the idea. The three pictures on the left shows English suburbs in springtime. This actually shows the same cycle path I go through in my daily 10 minute commute to the office, so it's actually a very nice, relaxing one (if it's not raining, of course). The stream (left) is about 2 minutes from my office, and the middle picture is on the cycle path right behind my house, and the one on the right is somewhere in between the commute.

BUT, I wasn't going to the office today, so made a turn that took me into a more countryside setting. Bees buzzing around, wild rabbits jumping out of your way, the faint smell of manure from the farms. Nice to live at the edge of town, doesn't take much to get to places like these. I'd like to say that I emerged in a nice English village full of old cottages (which actually does exist around this area) and had tea and scones in a cosy teahouse, but that's not what happened. I actually emerged at my destination: a shopping complex, bought a couple of things (one of them being hayfever pills, for obvious reasons!) and had a coffee in Starbucks. Well, can't have everything, eh?

So, now you know my daily commute, and what cycling in England is like. And that's why I do it all the time: nice, relaxing, eco-friendly, and most importantly, cheap! Won't be travelling next week, so can relax a little. Will post again next week.