Finally, after an almost 6 week break due to snow and ice, I was able to get out on Saturday and go for a decent ride. I was invited out for the day by a mate at work who was going to check out a couple of rural properties up near Peterborough (about 160 miles north of London). Our last outing was the run-in ride when I first got my bike so it was nice to get the twins back together. See photo below.
Coming from different areas out meeting place was near a Travelodge just of the M25 near Heathrow. Pulling up I felt like I needed to be fly-tipping just to fit in with the local scenery.
A few minutes later we had our sat navs locked in and headed off.
It was great just to be out on the bike going anywhere and as we all had intercoms built into our helmets we could chat the whole way. Very pleasant indeed.
We got to Peterborough in good time and checked out the train station while the agents were being lined up. Then it was off the first property. What a dump! But on purpose. It was a derelict house which allegedly hadn’t been lived in for 2 years. Not sure if I believed them as the wall calendar was date 1984. Maybe it was just a favourite year.
Most noteworthy for this location is this is where I decided to try out my Christmas present. A little HD video camera from GoPro. Clamped it to the back of Brad’s bike so I would be in shot while we drove the country lanes and headed to the second property. Posted below is the movie trailer I made from the footage from the camera. Very impressed win the quality even if it was quite overcast all day.
The second property was a cracker! And the owners were even better. Nice big cottage but let’s get straight on to the owners. They were an old couple who had family in Kent and over the past 2 years the wife had been giving the husband an earful about being so far from the grandkids so after 5 years it was time to make the move. Over those 5 years their 4 acres had inherited many new inhabitants. They had a Shetland pony that had been given to them, a pig, some ducks who’s growth had stunted, a couple of dodgy geese and countless battery hens bought for £1 each.
Country hospitality was alive and kicking. I was the hanger-on(-er-er) and kindly minding my own business outside while the potential buyers were shown around. Before long I was being ushered in for a cup of tea and a tour of the house.
Husband was outside tending to the animals at the time so once the indoor tour was over the boots were back on for a blow by blow life tour of the garden and fields. The husband was a very nice man but boy he could talk. Spending all day outside he had either saved up enough words that he wanted to get them all out while we were there or… he was used to it because he talked to the animals all day. His stories were great and we were even offered a meal before hitting the road.
From there it was a steady ride back to London arriving home about 7pm and then straight out the door for a frozen margarita and burrito. What a great day!
Here is a photo of the twins and my very short video. You can find out more about the HD camera I have at GoPro Cameras.
