Decided to ride today to Worcester Woods Country Park – another of the places Lyn had recommended to me. I had actually ridden past it a few days ago but hadn’t entered as I was headed elsewhere at the time.

Riding around the forest was very pleasant – totally quiet and relaxing. Found a large field – Newton Green (I think) but went back to the path instead of riding on the grass. At the east end I thought I’d like to see where a small side trail went, so rode thru a muddy spot in a depression and started to slip as I went up the other side. I stopped to get my balance then started riding again but almost immediately hit a tree root at an odd angle and started to go down to the right. I then realized that the pedal had flipped over when I’d stopped and my shoe had clipped in so I couldn’t get my foot down in time and dropped over towards the mud. As I fell my face hit the handle bar hard and my foot was still clipped into the fucking pedal. I ended up on my right side but at least didn’t slide down into the mud. I lay there for a moment wondering if anything was broken – either on myself, the bike, or my camera, then managed to get my shoe out of the clip so I could roll myself over and get back upright. My lower lip was split and already swelling on the right side, and it was then I felt something on my right forearm – I had landed on a stinging nettle and welts were already appearing. At least it was only one plant and only my lower arm and not my legs, face, or neck – I dowsed it with water a couple of times and started riding again.

Rode past a really great looking playground and another large field – lots of kids everywhere. Headed home after stopping at the store for more supplies.

The right side of my lower lip is very swollen and bruised-looking but the skin only broke on the inside and it didn’t bleed very much. The nettle welts went down but the whole area is throbbing off and on, although it’s not that itchy – wish I had some aloe to put on it. I also discovered blood on my right knee, but the wound is fairly minor so I didn’t even notice it when it happened.

The fresh lemon I used as part of my salad dressing at dinner stung my cut lip, and eating was a bit awkward but I was so hungry I didn’t care.

Rode down to the festival around 11 – noticed for the first time a couple of signs that said ‘do not cycle on the footpath’. I wasn’t sure what to do – the path had started out as foot/cycle then suddenly you’re not supposed to cycle anymore. I tried riding on the road a bit, but it wasn’t that pleasant, so ended up back on the sidewalk. There weren’t many pedestrians so I didn’t feel that bad about breaking the rules.

Found the festival grounds without much problem – the festival itself actually goes on for a couple of weeks with lots of things happening at various places throughout the city, but what is going on right now at the park is only for today.

The first thing I came to right at the entrance was a free bike inspection booth so I naturally headed straight to it. The fellow was very nice and had a look-over of Colin’s bike for me. It didn’t need any chain oil, but one of the brakes was making a slight noise so he made a small adjustment and said everything else looked ok. I then took it right across to a free bike lock-up – they give you and your bike a ticket and won’t let anyone without the proper number leave with a bike – I also, of course, locked it to the metal fence they had setup for that purpose.

Walked around and saw it all – first were the food vendors – several tasty looking choices, then the main music stage. Listened there for a bit, then strolled through the market part – booths of all sorts – animal rescue organizations, clubs, food products, jewelry, handicrafts, hobby stuff – a great assortment of things, with something to interest almost anyone.

Checked out a couple of the exhibits that had been judged – photography, of course, was especially interesting, but there were lots of other things as well. Lyn from next-door has won first place in handicrafts for the last three years but didn’t enter this year – all of the other participants in that category are likely breathing a sigh of relief.

Went back to the food vendors and decided on a perogie with bacon, spinach and cheese – the sign even said ‘not a pasty’ but that’s exactly what it looked like. I took it into what I thought was the ‘eating tent’ but saw that it was actually a beer tent that also, lucky for me, had cider on tap! So I sat and ate my pasty-that-wasn’t-a-pasty and drank a pint of lovely local cider while listening to a local singing group. The group was huge and consisted of dozens and dozens of women and a few men and they were really quite good.

I have to mention that the folks that were pouring the beer and cider did an incredible job – the line-ups looked so long I thought it would take forever but it was only a couple of minutes – really efficient and I think they must have made a mint because the customers never stopped coming.

After eating I headed over to the ‘kitchen tent’ for the wine tasting, which apparently started a few minutes early, although I didn’t miss any of the tastings. The presenter was very knowledgable and managed to give a lot of information about the wines and where they came from and how they are made and taste, mixed with a fair amount of humour. We tasted 3 whites, 1 rose (that doesn’t look right without the accent over the ‘e’, but you know what I mean) and 2 reds – a couple from South Africa, one from Italy, the rest from France (I think).

Next up in the kitchen tent was an excellent chef from a local restaurant that showed us how to make fried duck breast, lentil and vegetable cassoulet and poached pear. He also was very entertaining as he made the dishes, and the end product was delicious.

After that I wandered to the other side of the park where the kid’s area was, as well as the dog agility place. Lots going on, including face-painting, which I thought was cute. I took a picture of a little girl getting her face done – really pretty colours – but the face-painter moved her hand right when I took the pic so it covered most of the face. As I walked away a lady came up to me and asked if I was a professional photographer – I didn’t know why she was asking but of course I answered truthfully and said no. She then asked if she could see the photo I had taken and then I wondered if she thought I was a child-stalker or something and that was her little girl I’d taken the photo of. I showed her the pic and offered to delete it but she said it was ok as the girl’s face couldn’t actually be seen because of the face-painter’s hand. I walked away feeling like I’d just been accused of being a child molester or something and that everyone in the whole area was looking at me with loathing and scorn. Then I felt very guilty – oh my god – I should ask permission of everyone before I dare take a picture! I left almost immediately, feeling like shit after such a wonderful afternoon.

I stopped briefly at the band stage to listen to a couple of songs – decent covers of REM and U2, but felt so lousy all I wanted to do was get home.

Found my way to the canal path and rode home – the sky, like my mood, was now very gray. Had dinner then face-timed Dom – felt a bit better after talking with him and seeing the kitties. Watched the final few events of the World Athletics Championships – have really enjoyed them for the last week and a bit.

A bit windy out but not too bad for riding. Headed first to one of the places Lyn had told me about – Elbury Park, which is very close to the house and is one of the highest places in Worcester, I believe. The pedestrian path had too many stairs, so rode around until I found a paved road with a gate so no cars can use it.

Didn’t see one other person the whole time – at the top there was a wonderful view of the city and surrounding area in one direction, but trees impeded the view of much of the rest.

I couldn’t find any other trail or path so rode back down the way I’d come up. Found my way over to another wooded area further east and a bit south – again no other people on the paths, so it was nice and quiet. Decided to go home rather than try to find Worcester Woods Country Park (another of Lyn’s suggestions) – I’ll leave that for another day.

Got home after only about an hour’s riding – shorter than usual, but after the 4 hour trip yesterday I figured it was ok to take it a bit easy.

One of many things that’s different here than the other countries I’ve been in is the churches – specifically the bells. They don’t ring the bells constantly like they did in all of the other places – every hour day and night, and even more on Sundays. Now if I wake up in the middle of the night I actually have to look at the clock instead of count the bells to find out the time – ha ha.

Finally – a beautiful blue-sky morning, although when I left for my ride just after 11 the whole sky was overcast again. I rode north to the Worcester-Birmingham canal, then northeast along it towards Droitwich. Right before the Droitwich canal joins the W-B at Hanbury there’s a large number of canal-boats at long-term moorage – there’s a boat-gas station, a store, a bar/restaurant and everything.

Turned left along the Droitwich canal and arrived at the town after about a mile. Left the canal briefly to ride thru the town – what seemed to be the main street was closed to cars as they were doing maintenance work on it. It seemed like a lovely town – not too big, but having all the amenities.

Joined the canal again at the other end of town and followed the signs for the cycle path, but it ended up leaving the canal and being on the side of a busy road, so veered right and found the canal again. Crossed over to the north side and rode west – the path runs along the north side at times and the south at others, so crossed bridges more than once.

Partway along when there was a crossing over to the north side again I could only see stairs down to the path on the other side. There was a fellow with a camera on the bridge right near the stairs so I asked if there was a path down or should I heft the bike down the stairs. He said there was a path behind the bushes at the bottom of the bridge, then told me he was taking photos for a local tourist board and asked it he could go down the path a bit and take my photo as I rode towards him with a big smile. I happily agreed, and told him it was too bad I didn’t have my Canadian flag with me so he could show everyone how far away folks come from to enjoy the beauty of the canals. I forgot to get any info from him so will have to try looking up local tourist boards and see if my picture gets put on their site.

I left the canal right where it joins the River Severn as I didn’t want to go all the way down into the city. Had to stop at a flower-seller on the highway to determine exactly where I was on the map, and get headed in the right direction to get home – I was just northwest of Worcester, and needed to get to the very northeast of the city. Passed thru the village of Claines – a gentleman that was walking told me I was going in the right direction – followed some cycling signs part of the way, but the path was going into the city so I had to consult the map again for a different one.

Took a turn down a dead-end road – no bike path at the end so pulled out the map once again. A guy in the nearest house came out and asked if I was lost – I said ‘only a bit’ as I knew where I was and that there was a path very nearby. We chatted for a couple of minutes – he asked where I was from so I said Vancouver like I usually do as most people over here have never heard of Kelowna. He said really – I’m from Saltspring Island! He had a bit of an accent as he’s been living in England for some time now with his wife so I didn’t recognize right away that he wasn’t British. We talked a bit more about the fires in BC, then he walked with me to show me where the path started – I had turned off about 10 feet too soon.

Managed to find my way on cycling/foot paths winding thru Perdiswell park/golf course and onto the Worcester-Birmingham canal again, which I already knew. Getting home after that was easy although I was getting tired and was very hungry. I had brought some food with me, and even had considered stopping for lunch in Droitwich but didn’t want to take the time. The sky was still very gray and I didn’t want to get soaked in a shower because I’d stopped to eat. A few raindrops did fall from time to time along the ride, but it never really got going.

I’d ridden for almost four hours – maybe the mileage wasn’t that far, but it was a long ride for me. Lynn from next door came over to make sure I knew about the festival on Sunday – she’s won first place at the craft show for the last 3 years but hasn’t entered this year. She also showed me a couple more interesting places on the map that she thought I might want to see.

No rain so far – actually doesn’t look too bad. Rode southeast along paths I hadn’t been on before – went a little further south than I’d planned so had to go northeast a bit along a fairly busy road.

Eventually found the ‘bridle path’ I’d been looking for – there was a sign on the highway at the entrance to it but at first I couldn’t even see a path it was so narrow and overgrown. Once again the map came in very handy – I knew I was in the right place, so turned where indicated and headed down very slowly and carefully. Thankfully the steep and narrow part didn’t last that far and it opened up onto a nice flat field.

The path was still overgrown, then I found what I assumed were tractor tracks that I followed until it turned into a dirt road, then a paved road. Didn’t pass a single vehicle, but did go by a farm or two, as well as a ‘rectory’ next to the railroad tracks. Kept to the west or north whenever I had a choice – I was now ‘off the map’ so figured since I had started out heading southeast, then northwest would eventually lead home.

Came to the town of Crowle, then shortly after had to get onto another busier road. At the junction there was a sign that might have explained my ‘Weak Bridge’ error of a few days ago. The sign I saw then only said ‘Weak Bridge’, not the ‘at Tibberton’ part or the rest of it.

I did end up returning to a spot that I recognized so got back on the vehicle-free paths and found my way home.

Read both of the free papers that are delivered to the house – there’s another festival in the city this Sunday that sounds interesting. Looked at more maps online to plan where else I might want to ride – I much prefer traffic-free routes, but know it’s not always possible, unfortunately. I’m starting to get used to the traffic coming from the wrong direction, but still look both ways several times before venturing onto any road. And traffic circles (roundabouts as they call them – and there are lots) are especially confusing.

Guess what – rain again! Every time I woke up during the night it was raining – it finally let up mid-morning, but skies are still totally overcast.

Put a load of laundry in while I did yoga, then read some news online. The orange-haired idiot is threatening to start a war to prove that he’s the greatest leader the world has ever seen – why doesn’t someone in his family or one of the few ‘sane’ Republicans sit him down and give him a chill-pill or something? He needs to stop snorting the white stuff in the middle of the night – he’s getting more and more paranoid and narcissistic by the day. Or maybe they should hide him somewhere and get Alec Baldwin to take over the job.

Young Neil came over to deliver a bunch of mail for Colin – another friend, Michelle, is going to France on Friday and will take it with her. He kindly asked if I needed anything, but I’m doing really well here.

Went to retrieve my laundry from the machine to hang it on the heat registers to dry but couldn’t get the door open – had I broken yet another thing of Colin’s? And what is it about me and doors and locks? I wondered if I was going to have to call someone before I broke the handle off or something (but don’t worry, Colin!)- I finally wiggled it a bit the right way and it popped open. What a relief – all of my socks and undies were in there, as well as three of the four tops I brought with me.

Dom had asked a couple of days ago if Worcester is built on a grid system – I’m not sure about the city centre, but this area certainly isn’t. If it’s supposed to be a grid then either the surveyors were drunk, or they simply followed a goat path – maybe drunk goats! A good thing is that none of the streets around here are a short-cut to anywhere, and many end in ‘courts’ with no vehicle exit, so there’s only local traffic to contend with.

The only time I went out was a walk to the store, so had a really quiet day. Beautiful golden sunset.

Rain, rain, rain most of the night – finally stopped shortly after I got up. Another cloudy and chilly day, but got on the bike just after noon. There are so many great cycling paths around here that you hardly ever have to go on a road with cars.

Headed east to begin with – did go a very short way on a narrow side road and encountered a delivery truck that was trying to turn around in a very small area – hardly a 3-point turn. I backed right off and watched from a safe distance while he went back and forth 8 or 10 times to complete a half-turn on a corner and go back the way he’d come. As I continued I saw why he’d had to turn around – it was a dead-end for vehicles, but bikes and pedestrians could go on.

Crossed a road, then the path got more and more narrow – I had to pull in my elbows and duck my head at one point to avoid the bramble-bushes hanging down and on both sides.

Crossed over a motor-way then encountered a gate that blocked my way. I probably could have hefted the bike over, but it was fairly obvious that the path was only meant for walkers, and was very muddy from the rain.

Turned around and went down another paved path that again dead-ended near the motor-way, so ended up back-tracking almost all of the way home. Took a little ride around on the local cycle paths, then just went home – rode for about an hour in all so not as long as I’d have liked, but better than nothing and my fingers were getting cold.

Had another great fresh pasta dinner, which I followed up with strawberry cheesecake – very tasty but way too sweet for me to eat on a regular basis.

Another gray, chilly day, but no rain yet – waited until the afternoon to go for a ride hoping the sky would clear, but no luck there. Neighbour Lynn brought over some homemade muffins, and gave me her wi-fi info – works much better than Jane’s since it’s so much closer.

Rode back to the canal but turned left towards the city centre this time. Most of the way it still felt like I was out in the country – very quiet, and not as many pedestrians as yesterday until I got nearer to the centre.

Passed more and more houses and some apartment buildings, a playground, etc as I neared the centre. Didn’t go all the way to the end of the canal, but stopped a km or so before it joined the river as it was now right in the city and not as quiet and peaceful.

Headed back the way I’d come, narrowly missing an oblivious pedestrian standing in the middle of the path talking with another oblivious pedestrian. There’s no bell on the bike so whenever I come upon someone I yell ‘bicycle coming’ so they aren’t taken by surprise and don’t suddenly step in my way. I was still in the city and the two (a man and a woman) were stopped right on the path gabbing away, both standing sideways to me so really should have seen me as well as heard me yelling, not once but twice that a bike was coming, then my third yell was ‘HELLO!!’. The woman slowly turned her head to acknowledge me, but barely bothered to move – I rode around them on the grass, which thankfully at that point was wide enough that I didn’t have to ditch into the canal and swim around them.

Got back to the house after just over 2 hours riding – the arm I hurt yesterday doesn’t feel too bad – at least it doesn’t impede my riding. Had the rest of the venison for dinner, along with some fresh pesto pasta – quite a nice combination, actually.

Off to a bit of a late start on my ride – didn’t get on the road until around 12:30. Made my way north along the paths towards the canal that runs all the way from Worcester to Birmingham, but came to a gate that was closed with ‘do not cross’ tapes. Turned east along the sidewalk and ended up in a Sainsbury warehouse parking lot that I thought might have an exit north – it didn’t. Had just turned around to back-track when a security guard called out to me. Went over and showed him my map to find out exactly where I was, and told him where I wanted to go. Had a bit of a chat – he’s from the former Yugoslavia so was interested that I had been in Croatia, and his partner mentioned that he had a cousin that lives in Vancouver – it’s a small world after all – ha ha.

He told me how to get to the canal, which I thought was totally wrong – back the way I’d come then head left when I thought I should be heading to the right. Riding along the sidewalk I saw a vine hanging in the way – at the last moment I realized it was covered with vicious looking thorns so slammed on the brakes to avoid getting slashed across the face. My left hand slipped off the grip and my forearm scraped heavily along the handlebar. The pain was so bad I had to just grit my teeth and start riding – if I thought about it I knew I’d start to cry so I tried not to breathe too deeply and just kept pedalling. The pain would ebb for a moment, then return – I tried to ignore it. After a few minutes I took a quick look at the damage – a bit of skin missing and a small lump – I’m going to have a lovely bruise in a day or two.

The gate that had been taped up when I first passed it was now open – another rider had just pushed through and was sitting on a bench overlooking a pond and smoking a cigarette. The path, which was to the right, not the left as the security guard had indicated, led onto an old road, which led to the canal – I knew the guard had given me wrong directions.

The canal was awesome – I entered the canal path right before one of the locks, and a boat had just passed through. I passed some more locks in short order before things flattened out a bit. There were quite a few boats – mainly tour boats, but also house boats, some in transit and some tied up along the canal-side. The boats are long and very narrow so they can pass each other and fit into the locks, which are also very narrow. Passed a couple of guys with fishing lines in the water – asked one what he was after and he said perch (and something else I didn’t understand). I asked if he sold them or kept them for food and he said he just threw them back in – he had a tray of four different kinds of bait – all live wiggly things in various shades of white and pink.

Rode as far as Dunhampstead, where I left the canal path just to see what was there. There are many entrances to the path, and this seemed to be a main one – there was a sign for ‘party parking’ so I thought it might be a small town or something. There was a bridge that said ‘Weak Bridge’ so I thought that was the name of the place, as well as some houses and other buildings. There was a party happening at the place on the canal that had the parking sign – kids running around and stuff – maybe a wedding reception or something.

Got back on the canal path and headed towards home. Found my way back after leaving the canal no problem – my sense of direction isn’t too bad, most of the time, and I didn’t even need the map (or bad directions from any security guards!).

Stopped at the store on the way, then as I arrived home found Jane and Lynn having a chat at the front of the houses. Stopped to tell them where I’d been – Lynn laughed when I told her I’d been as far as Weak Bridge – apparently that’s a generic term for a bridge that can’t take too much weight – ha ha on me!

Left the house around 10:30 to ride around the area without going down into the city. There are lots of bike/pedestrian paths with no cars so I rode until I got to a nature park, then the rain started. Turned around to head back home under a downpour – was pretty soaked by the time I got there.

Had lunch while waiting for a break in the rain so I could go to the store. Neighbour Lynn, who got back from a short vacation in Cornwall last night, came over to introduce herself and see if I needed anything. I told her I was going to be cycling around so she popped back to her place and brought me a walking/cycling map of the city and surrounding area, as well as a tour bus guide book with destinations, dates and prices.

Watched a bit of the world athletic championships on tv – they’re taking place in London so a lot is being shown. Didn’t go out again after riding to the store – the sky keeps clearing up a bit, then black clouds move in and it pours for a bit.