Ooh, hello!

pinkteapot

Newbie cyclist - someone in Road Beginners mentioned this board. I hadn't noticed it before. Which is unlike me since it says "cake".

I used to be a runner until a foot problem put pay to that. Started a new job in Feb that's 4 miles from home (previously 50 miles) so started biking it on my godawful old cheap Rayleigh MTB. Thought about getting a better bike but didn't think it would really be that different. Then I went to my LBS, explained this view, and they sent me outside on a Specialized hybrid. Talk about an epiphany. Ended up with a Whyte women's Malvern and I'm obsessed. Cycling has always seemed like hard work. Now it's like I'm flying along and am one with the bike.

Some of you might have seen my thread in Beginners - I'm doing a 60 mile charity ride on 19th May. I'm riding to work 3-4 days a week and doing longer rides at weekends, adding 5 miles per week to those to build up to the 60 mile mark. Which at this point still seems like a ridiculous, impossible distance. I'm sure it won't on the day though...

Cycling aside, anyone else about into hill-walking (all our holidays are spent in the Lakes and Scotland) or archery?

And any other Essex girls?

GiantMike

pinkteapot wrote:

Blah...blah...blah.....any other Essex girls?

We demand a photo of any new visitor to the Cake Stop.





















p.s welcome

pinkteapot

Your brain's blah blah women's waffle filter went into overdrive. You didn't clock the fact I'm an Essex girl who wields a bow and arrow.

Frank the tank

Welcome aboard the cake stop express, close the doors,hold on tight and remember the louder you scream the faster we go.

"Stereotype alert" being an Essex girl are you sure you're a PINKteapot and not an ORANGEteapot?

pinkteapot

Haha, no, I'm definitely not orange. I'm also one of those people who lives in north Essex and prefers to think of myself as living "near Suffolk" rather than "in Essex". Bit like those on the Wirral who don't say they live in Liverpool.

cornerblock

pinkteapot wrote:

Cycling aside, anyone else about into hill-walking

Welcome pinkteapot, there are many cyclists on here who do sometimes resort to hill walking, you will just never hear them admit to it!

Frank the tank

pinkteapot wrote:

Haha, no, I'm definitely not orange. I'm also one of those people who lives in north Essex and prefers to think of myself as living "near Suffolk" rather than "in Essex". Bit like those on the Wirral who don't say they live in Liverpool.

Now I understand, you're one of those with ideas above their station.

turnerjohn

GiantMike wrote:

pinkteapot wrote:

Blah...blah...blah.....any other Essex girls?

We demand a photo of any new visitor to the Cake Stop.

smooth



















p.s welcome

pinkteapot

Cornerblock wrote:

pinkteapot wrote:

Cycling aside, anyone else about into hill-walking

Welcome pinkteapot, there are many cyclists on here who do sometimes resort to hill walking, you will just never hear them admit to it!

Was a bit gutted to discover that neither of our cars can take a rear cycle carrier, so I can't take my bike up north with us without an expensive roof or towball system. Going to Skye and the Outer Hebrides in June and biking round would have been amazing.

cornerblock

pinkteapot wrote:

Was a bit gutted to discover that neither of our cars can take a rear cycle carrier, so I can't take my bike up north with us without an expensive roof or towball system. Going to Skye and the Outer Hebrides in June and biking round would have been amazing.

No room in the car if you removed the bikes wheels?

Cleat Eastwood

Cornerblock wrote:

pinkteapot wrote:

Cycling aside, anyone else about into hill-walking

Welcome pinkteapot, there are many cyclists on here who do sometimes resort to hill walking, you will just never hear them admit to it!

Hold on he's admitted to being a woman, likes hill walking and knows where the wirral is - I think he's giving away waaaay too much info.

Sit down and have an eccles cake.

lucan2

pinkteapot wrote:

Bit like those on the Wirral who don't say they live in Liverpool.

Oooohh, provocative. I think you'll fit in just right here.

Dog Breath

pinkteapot wrote:

Bit like those on the Wirral who don't say they live in Liverpool.

I DO live on the Wirral and NOT in Liverpool, I'll have you know. Pfft :evil:

ballysmate

Dog Breath.
I would give Lookyhere a wide berth if I were you. Judging by his thread he would have you muzzled and get 500 quid off you.

pinkteapot

Got a good friend in Liverpool who loves saying "I'm not from
Liverpool, I'm from the Wirral."

Re car, got a Mondeo which happily swallows a bike whole, but not when going away with the amount of stuff we take. Anyway, with the increased fuel consumption all the way from Essex to the Hebrides with a carrier I could probably buy another bike up there just for the holiday!

RDB66

Where abouts are you in North Essex then, Pinky ?

pinkteapot

Colchester... So only about five miles south of Suffolk. Hoping to escape town for a village next year which will have the added bonus of country roads being on my doorstep, so no longer having two miles on busy roads to escape.

pinkteapot

Woohoo! With the Hebrides we're staying on the Uists (small group of islands, so we're not on the main larger islands). Have found that the Uists have a bike shop (just the one) which also does cycle hire. So I won't have to go for a fortnight without biking.

stannie

Hi pinkteapot
Enjoy the Hebrides. I hope the weather isn't too snowy to do some cycling.
Have a cream scone on me.
(Ps I am not an Essex girl but my hubby is from Suffolk)

pinkteapot

Hebrides isn't until June so hoping the world has thawed out by then...

*Love* a good cream tea.

Keith47

Hi pinkteapot, I enjoy a bit of hill walking too, love Snowdon and Tryffan, have done a lot of walking in the Lake District as well, nowt wrong with I say!.
Good luck with your charity ride.
Welcome to the madhouse

pinkteapot

Mr. Teapot and I are working through climbing all the Wainwrights in the Lake District.

By the time we're done, maybe I'll be ready to MTB up them all...

sadlybiggins

pinkteapot wrote:

Colchester... So only about five miles south of Suffolk. Hoping to escape town for a village next year which will have the added bonus of country roads being on my doorstep, so no longer having two miles on busy roads to escape.

Not far from where I live. Lots of good routes and nice places to live in N Essex as I'm sure you know, especially if it ever warms up...

-spider-

pinkteapot wrote:

Woohoo! With the Hebrides we're staying on the Uists (small group of islands, so we're not on the main larger islands). Have found that the Uists have a bike shop (just the one) which also does cycle hire. So I won't have to go for a fortnight without biking.

The Uists are large enough for great rides. The threemain islands are North and South Uist linked by causway through Benbecula. It really would be worth getting the ferry (south) to Barra and doing the circuit of the island. Going north, Harris and Lewis would be fantastic if you have the time - the hills are bigger.

PS I do a bit of hillwalking (you can't avoid it round here).

GiantMike

You'll love the Hebs. Make sure you get along to the 'Och Aye' nightclub on a Thursday or Friday night. It's in Benbecula just along from the multiplex cinema, next to the massive shopping centre. Watch out for the Yardies though, the islands are full of them.

pinkteapot

-spider- wrote:

pinkteapot wrote:

Woohoo! With the Hebrides we're staying on the Uists (small group of islands, so we're not on the main larger islands). Have found that the Uists have a bike shop (just the one) which also does cycle hire. So I won't have to go for a fortnight without biking.

The Uists are large enough for great rides. The threemain islands are North and South Uist linked by causway through Benbecula. It really would be worth getting the ferry (south) to Barra and doing the circuit of the island. Going north, Harris and Lewis would be fantastic if you have the time - the hills are bigger.

We were planning a trip to Barra anyway as the hubby's into birds (avian) and something rare that I forget the name of turns up there. I can leave him watching for it and go out for a spin.

We went to Orkney for a fortnight a couple of years ago and absolutely loved it. Only spending a week on the Uists as they're so much smaller but starting to think I might end up wishing we'd had longer there.

-spider-

Orkney is great too (as is Shetland) but the Western Isles are, by far, the best. It is like visiting a different country. Tip - make sure you are in the southern end of the islands on Sunday.

pinkteapot

-spider- wrote:

Orkney is great too (as is Shetland) but the Western Isles are, by far, the best. It is like visiting a different country. Tip - make sure you are in the southern end of the islands on Sunday.

We spent a couple of days on Skye as part of our honeymoon and want to go back for longer, hence spending a week there. Had an amazing first anniversary on Orkney - saw killer whales! That's meant trying to keep up/top it so I'm planning a swim in the Fairy Pools on Skye for our third anniversary.

Even Orkney felt like being abroad. It's surreal watching BBC Breakfast in the morning when it's completely irrelevant. Not to mention the BBC's appalling coverage of Orkney weather on their map.

ballysmate

This thread is so genteel I thought I had strayed into a parallel forum. Welcome, but, be warned,it isn't always so.
Thankfully

Wunnunda

Ballysmate wrote:

This thread is so genteel I thought I had strayed into a parallel forum. Welcome, but, be warned,it isn't always so.
Thankfully

Yes - the cake stop windows will have chintzy gingham curtains before you know it. With tie-backs.

Frank the tank

You're all on ya best behaviour 'cos you've had the sniff of a new bird on the forum.

BTW, I did advise her to bring her tin hat.