Trip Report: The 222 mile ride
Sept 3, 2014 22:48:32 GMT
Radchenister, phred1812, and 10 more like this
Post by Deleted on Sept 3, 2014 22:48:32 GMT
Here is the trip report from yesterday's ride as promised.
The ride
www.strava.com/activities/189015390
Stats:
Distance 221.8 miles
Time sat in the saddle spinning the cranks: 12 hours 48 mins
Calories burned : 7,651
Average speed : 17.3 mph
The Strava recording lasted for the duration of the ride which was a pleasant surprise. I had the phone (Nexus 5) set to aircraft mode for most of the trip and used the screen sparingly for navigation when required.
Sustenance on the ride
A bowl of Aldi muesli and a pint pot of tea (unsweetened) before departure. I had about 8 menthol sweet in my jersey pocket, 2 bananas in my pannier. I had one in Liverpool and the other in Neston on the Wirral. I stopped just short of 50 miles at McDonald's in Southport for a coffee and bacon butty. Another McDonald's in Chester. This time a full blown Chicken Legend meal "make it large" with a nice cappuccino. The last bite to eat was at Aldi in Great Crosby where I had a ham and cheese sandwich on brown bread and a litre of banana and strawberry smoothie. I didn't quite down the lot but made a really good effort to do so as now doubt I needed it. It had 2 bananas, 24 strawberries, apple and blueberries on the list of ingredients. Before I set off I made up two water bottles 750ml of IsoEnergy drink courtesy of Holland and Barrett's 2 for 1 deal. I took some with me to make up some more en route. I had 5 bottles in total for the duration of the trip.
The stimulus for the ride originated courtesy of Strava and encouragement from Damo. Cheers Damo ..!!
Damo's message:
Damian Bartlett Good speed by the way - at the other end of the spectrum are you giving this a bash? www.strava.com/challenges/alpen-traum There's only 2/3 people I follow on here brave/mad enough to attempt it and your 1 2 weeks ago
"A coast to coast would do the trick" and I had a look at a few routes to Whitby.
The plan of action
In the meantime, my misses asked if I was going to Decathlon any time soon. "Not planned to", came my reply. "Why do you ask?" She wanted to buy a swimming rucksack for my daughter which was on offer at Β£12.99. Only trouble was that she didn't want to pay the postage. I don't know who is more careful with the cash?
Unfortunately the bag was out of stock at Bolton so the next nearest was Warrington with two bags in store. "I might just cycle it", I told her before she headed off on her jollies to Portugal. That would kill two birds with one stone. I'd get the bag for her and I'd tick off the 150 mile Strava challenge.
On return she asked if I had bought the bag yet. "Ermmm... nope." I replied. "If I feel fresh when I get up tomorrow I'll go and get it". Owt to save her the Β£3.99 postal costs hey..!! Tight wad.
Off we go..!!
I awoke early doors (4am ish)bright as a button but it was still dark. Obviously too early to get up but I couldn't get back to sleep. "Okay.... let's do it" I told myself. I got dressed in my cycling gear that I had left in the bathroom and had a bowl of muesli as my offline cycling maps for the day were being uploaded onto my mobile phone courtesy of Orux maps. It took quite a while so I went out to the garage to fettle the bike. Pumped the tyres up and loaded up the single pannier with a couple of bananas, Aldi windproof jacket and some spare IsoEnergy powder for when I topped up my water bottles. I needed the pannier to carry the swimming rucksack from Warrington.
After all the faffing around I eventually set off at around 6am. It was a lovely crisp morning with no wind at all. The route I had planned was a 172 miler. Down the Fylde Coast, through Preston and down to Liverpool on the A59. Ferry over to Birkenhead and around the Wirral Way cycle trail before heading across to Warrington. After that it was a direct route back home.
The ride down the coast was nice and peaceful. The sea was like a mill pond and the sunrise to the east was blinding as I turned towards it heading for Preston and the associated commuter traffic. Things were going well so I decided to try for a longer route via Southport and Formby. A nice bacon butty and a coffee soon disappeared at Southport McDonalds. The lack of music made for self generated tunes inside my head. I couldn't stop singing "Ferry across the Mersey" by Jerry and the Pacemakers. This eventually did my head in and I forcefully changed tunes to "My Sweet Lord" along with a few others. I made Liverpool at just after 10am. The next ferry across the Mersey was at 11am so I chilled out and enjoyed the scenery at Pier head. Loads of foreign tourists were waiting for the famous ferry. After a certain time they classify the crossing as a tourist cruise rather than the more direct commuter service. There was a cruise liner alongside and the impressive looking Isle of Man catamaran turned up to offload it's passengers.
A bit of a rust bucket posing as a cruise liner alongside at Pier Head, Liverpool
An impressive looking Liver Building and an equally impressive looking bike
The IOM Steam Packet Company's high speed catamaran
We eventually boarded the ferry and headed towards the mouth of the river before turning back and heading for the Wirral. The tourists were entertained with an information service all about the history of Liverpool and the dockland area. It began with a nice little tune. "Ferry across the flippin Mersey..!!"
All aboard the Snowdrop
It was nice to get back on the bike on the other side. I'd done this trip before from Fleetwood when I went to watch my lad play footy for Blackpool under ??'s (whatever he was at the time) against Tranmere. I cycled through the Mersey Tunnel on that occasion and remember it as being pretty dodgy. That was early on a Sunday morning and I think that is the only time of the week they allow push bikes through. It's a weird feeling descending to the bottom of the tunnel and pretty hard going on the uphill section to t'uther side. I followed the Wirral Way cycle trail around the coast and was thoroughly enjoying myself. What a great day..!! Things slowed up further around the coast. The trail turns into a rough surface rather than tarmac or concrete. Still not a problem to cycle along but with a few muddy bits and frequented with dog walkers etc. There were nice views across the River Dee to the north coast of Wales and I detoured slightly to have a look at Hilbre island which are accessible on foot at low water. It is cut off from the mainland for 5 hours every tide and populated by seals and nesting seabirds. I'd had enough of the Wirral Way by the time I reached Neston and rejoined the road. Too slow going on a long day.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilbre_Island
The Wirral Way cycle trail
Hilbre Islands en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilbre_Island
Heading off in the rough direction of Warrington I overtook another cyclist who decided to have a man test with me on one of the main roads. He did pretty well but I eventually dropped him by the time I turned off. I spotted a sign for Chester. Hmmhhh..... that would be a good tick in the box before turning back for Warrington. So Chester it was. On arrival I was greeted with a load of blue lights and the streets packed with Fire Service vehicles and ambulances. Something was kicking off at Chester Cathedral and the Cheshire rope rescue team had been mobilised to attend the incident. I was ready for some nourishment and spotted a yellow curly "M". Do McDonalds do nourishment? Well they do Chicken Legend meals "make it large" so that protein and mega salt content would tick a few boxes. I demolished it sat on a step outside the town hall and watching events unfold at the Cathedral opposite. There were fire and ambulance personnel on top of the highest tower. I later checked it out online and it turned out a member of the public had climbed the steps up to the top of the cathedral and had then collapsed, probably due to the exertion. They couldn't get the guy down so used an aerial ladder platform to get him back to street level.
"What's going on, mate?" asks a nosey parker
Chester Cathedral and the aerial ladder platform used to remove the casualty
www.chesterchronicle.co.uk/news/chester-cheshire-news/chester-cathedral-drama-man-taken-7707366
The main drag in Chester. Very nice too.
Lunch over and emergency services now having departed, it was my turn to make headway. Warrington was the next port of call and a visit to the Mecca that is Decca. The bridge at Runcorn stood in my way and I had read reports in the past that it was a nightmare crossing for cyclists. It does have a cycle path but for out of towner's it is pretty tricky to get onto. I'll probably just have to blast across it and keep my fingers crossed. The Stanlow Oil refinery which provides a lot of the petrol and diesel for the north of the country came across my radar. Wow... that would be worth a drive by. It certainly made for an impressive detour...... Not really.... I'd made a wrong turning. By now I was wary of the battery level on my mobile. I was using Strava to record the ride and after sending a text update to the misses in Chester put the phone into airplane mode to conserve battery life. I also decided to save screen usage as I wasn't too bothered about navigation so decided to make my way home by using of the mapping stored in my head. If I was going for a big mileage it would actually be a bonus to clock up some extra miles.
Runcorn Bridge finally appeared and it certainly was a dodgy crossing. It carries a fast main road across the Mersey and the lanes are pretty narrow. I could see the cycle lane disappearing under the bridge at the far side of the dual carriageway but it would have been an act of suicide to attempt a crossing. Fortunately the traffic slowed sufficiently for me to follow the car in front without the traffic to the rear needing to pass. It was nice to get across in one piece.
Runcorn Bridge : A "don't try this at home" type of crossing
The mecca that is Decca in Warrington.
The mapping was used briefly to locate the Decathlon store in Warrington and I parked up outside, removed my cycling shoes and padded in with just my socks on. (oh yeah my bib shorts and shirt as well) . Straight to the swimming section and I spotted some swimming bags but not the one I wanted. "Flippin eck..!! Have they sold out?" I looked all over before asking a member of staff. A French lad who was keen to help. He couldn't find one on the shelves so asked a lass. French as well. "They were all sent to the Stockport store. I'm sorry..!!" she said. "Oh no... I've just cycled 132.8 miles to buy the bag and it says on your website you have two in stock", I said in a voice of despair. Surely I hadn't cycled all this way to be denied my purchase. Er indoors would go mad when I got home..!! The French lass said she would look in the warehouse. She'd been gone quite a while but returned with a smile on her face.... and the swimming rucksack in her hands. What a lovely lass she was..!! I thanked her for her help and went on my merry way. Shoes back on and rucksack bent double and shoved in the pannier, off I went on my return journey. I now wanted to beat my previous longest ride in a day which was 205 miles from London to York. I still felt fine and full of energy. I would probably have to return to Liverpool and back up the coast through Southport to get the miles in. A direct route up to Preston was out of the equation.
The traffic was mega busy leaving Warrington and stayed that way all the way to Liverpool and beyond. Fortunately Roy the Rocket's East Lancs Road cycle path came to the rescue. It's no wonder he is infatuated with the thing. It is as smooth as a baby's bottom and it is little wonder he clocks up 20 mph rides on such a luxurious path. Spoilt rotten that lad..!!
Liverpool appeared on the horizon along with it's horrible pot holed roads. I headed for Bootle and out of the city on the Southport road. An Aldi store appeared as if by magic and a sandwich and banana smoothie refreshed the parts that Heineken would not be touching on such a long day. By the time I reached Southport the sun was low down on the horizon and about to set. I looked across the River Ribble and could clearly see Blackpool Tower and the Pleasure Beach.
Sunset at Southport
It would be ages before I was on the other side of the water. The estuary is pretty long before it reaches Preston. The bike lights went on and I nailed it to Preston and beyond .... still feeling pretty strong. Passing through Lytham, a cyclist appeared up ahead. He was travelling at a similar sort of pace but I eventually overhauled him before St.Annes. "I hope he doesn't turn this into a man test", I murmured to myself as I passed by with a cheery "hello". I had now cycled over 200 miles and it was the last thing I needed. After a while I looked over my shoulder and he was doing his best to keep up. "Bugger..!!" I cranked up the speed and kept putting useful distance between ourselves, only to have it wiped out at a multitude of traffic lights. Squires Gate appeared and I caught the lights before they changed to red. That should see him off once and for all. The illuminations were nice and bright and took my mind off my backside. I had started to get a bit of saddle soreness from Preston onwards. The Tower looked well all lit up, as did the big wheel on central pier. I decided to stop for a photo shoot. It wasn't long before my mantester passed by. He disappeared into the distance at a vastly reduced speed. "Ha haa.... hope you're well and truly knackered mate..!!" I chuckled to myself... lol...
Blackpool seafront. A familiar sight.
Photos taken, the last part of the journey back to Fleetwood soon went by. I was short of the 220 mile target I was hoping for so put in a few twists and turns to bump it up before heading home. Er indoors was sat there watching telly and it was gone 10pm. "Hiya", I said cheerfully. "Oh.. You're still alive then? I've been worried and tried to ring you and texted"
Hmmmhhh oh dear..... not quite the welcome home I had expected after a long bike ride. "Ermmm soz abowt that" I smiled. "I had to put my phone into airplane mode from Chester to save the battery" She was happy with the rucksack when I showed it her but she remained rivetted to the telly. Feeling peckish I went into the kitchen and what looked like my meal was on the side. It looked like I was in the doghouse. Oh well. I'll have a jacket potato with a bit of cheese and a pint pot of tea. That'll do. The misses went to bed and I followed an hour later as I started to drop off in front of the laptop.
A very enjoyable day. Mission accomplished..!!
The Bag..!! Reduced to Β£12.99 ...
The ride
www.strava.com/activities/189015390
Stats:
Distance 221.8 miles
Time sat in the saddle spinning the cranks: 12 hours 48 mins
Calories burned : 7,651
Average speed : 17.3 mph
The Strava recording lasted for the duration of the ride which was a pleasant surprise. I had the phone (Nexus 5) set to aircraft mode for most of the trip and used the screen sparingly for navigation when required.
Sustenance on the ride
A bowl of Aldi muesli and a pint pot of tea (unsweetened) before departure. I had about 8 menthol sweet in my jersey pocket, 2 bananas in my pannier. I had one in Liverpool and the other in Neston on the Wirral. I stopped just short of 50 miles at McDonald's in Southport for a coffee and bacon butty. Another McDonald's in Chester. This time a full blown Chicken Legend meal "make it large" with a nice cappuccino. The last bite to eat was at Aldi in Great Crosby where I had a ham and cheese sandwich on brown bread and a litre of banana and strawberry smoothie. I didn't quite down the lot but made a really good effort to do so as now doubt I needed it. It had 2 bananas, 24 strawberries, apple and blueberries on the list of ingredients. Before I set off I made up two water bottles 750ml of IsoEnergy drink courtesy of Holland and Barrett's 2 for 1 deal. I took some with me to make up some more en route. I had 5 bottles in total for the duration of the trip.
The stimulus for the ride originated courtesy of Strava and encouragement from Damo. Cheers Damo ..!!
Damo's message:
Damian Bartlett Good speed by the way - at the other end of the spectrum are you giving this a bash? www.strava.com/challenges/alpen-traum There's only 2/3 people I follow on here brave/mad enough to attempt it and your 1 2 weeks ago
"A coast to coast would do the trick" and I had a look at a few routes to Whitby.
The plan of action
In the meantime, my misses asked if I was going to Decathlon any time soon. "Not planned to", came my reply. "Why do you ask?" She wanted to buy a swimming rucksack for my daughter which was on offer at Β£12.99. Only trouble was that she didn't want to pay the postage. I don't know who is more careful with the cash?
Unfortunately the bag was out of stock at Bolton so the next nearest was Warrington with two bags in store. "I might just cycle it", I told her before she headed off on her jollies to Portugal. That would kill two birds with one stone. I'd get the bag for her and I'd tick off the 150 mile Strava challenge.
On return she asked if I had bought the bag yet. "Ermmm... nope." I replied. "If I feel fresh when I get up tomorrow I'll go and get it". Owt to save her the Β£3.99 postal costs hey..!! Tight wad.
Off we go..!!
I awoke early doors (4am ish)bright as a button but it was still dark. Obviously too early to get up but I couldn't get back to sleep. "Okay.... let's do it" I told myself. I got dressed in my cycling gear that I had left in the bathroom and had a bowl of muesli as my offline cycling maps for the day were being uploaded onto my mobile phone courtesy of Orux maps. It took quite a while so I went out to the garage to fettle the bike. Pumped the tyres up and loaded up the single pannier with a couple of bananas, Aldi windproof jacket and some spare IsoEnergy powder for when I topped up my water bottles. I needed the pannier to carry the swimming rucksack from Warrington.
After all the faffing around I eventually set off at around 6am. It was a lovely crisp morning with no wind at all. The route I had planned was a 172 miler. Down the Fylde Coast, through Preston and down to Liverpool on the A59. Ferry over to Birkenhead and around the Wirral Way cycle trail before heading across to Warrington. After that it was a direct route back home.
The ride down the coast was nice and peaceful. The sea was like a mill pond and the sunrise to the east was blinding as I turned towards it heading for Preston and the associated commuter traffic. Things were going well so I decided to try for a longer route via Southport and Formby. A nice bacon butty and a coffee soon disappeared at Southport McDonalds. The lack of music made for self generated tunes inside my head. I couldn't stop singing "Ferry across the Mersey" by Jerry and the Pacemakers. This eventually did my head in and I forcefully changed tunes to "My Sweet Lord" along with a few others. I made Liverpool at just after 10am. The next ferry across the Mersey was at 11am so I chilled out and enjoyed the scenery at Pier head. Loads of foreign tourists were waiting for the famous ferry. After a certain time they classify the crossing as a tourist cruise rather than the more direct commuter service. There was a cruise liner alongside and the impressive looking Isle of Man catamaran turned up to offload it's passengers.
A bit of a rust bucket posing as a cruise liner alongside at Pier Head, Liverpool
An impressive looking Liver Building and an equally impressive looking bike
The IOM Steam Packet Company's high speed catamaran
We eventually boarded the ferry and headed towards the mouth of the river before turning back and heading for the Wirral. The tourists were entertained with an information service all about the history of Liverpool and the dockland area. It began with a nice little tune. "Ferry across the flippin Mersey..!!"
All aboard the Snowdrop
It was nice to get back on the bike on the other side. I'd done this trip before from Fleetwood when I went to watch my lad play footy for Blackpool under ??'s (whatever he was at the time) against Tranmere. I cycled through the Mersey Tunnel on that occasion and remember it as being pretty dodgy. That was early on a Sunday morning and I think that is the only time of the week they allow push bikes through. It's a weird feeling descending to the bottom of the tunnel and pretty hard going on the uphill section to t'uther side. I followed the Wirral Way cycle trail around the coast and was thoroughly enjoying myself. What a great day..!! Things slowed up further around the coast. The trail turns into a rough surface rather than tarmac or concrete. Still not a problem to cycle along but with a few muddy bits and frequented with dog walkers etc. There were nice views across the River Dee to the north coast of Wales and I detoured slightly to have a look at Hilbre island which are accessible on foot at low water. It is cut off from the mainland for 5 hours every tide and populated by seals and nesting seabirds. I'd had enough of the Wirral Way by the time I reached Neston and rejoined the road. Too slow going on a long day.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilbre_Island
The Wirral Way cycle trail
Hilbre Islands en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilbre_Island
Heading off in the rough direction of Warrington I overtook another cyclist who decided to have a man test with me on one of the main roads. He did pretty well but I eventually dropped him by the time I turned off. I spotted a sign for Chester. Hmmhhh..... that would be a good tick in the box before turning back for Warrington. So Chester it was. On arrival I was greeted with a load of blue lights and the streets packed with Fire Service vehicles and ambulances. Something was kicking off at Chester Cathedral and the Cheshire rope rescue team had been mobilised to attend the incident. I was ready for some nourishment and spotted a yellow curly "M". Do McDonalds do nourishment? Well they do Chicken Legend meals "make it large" so that protein and mega salt content would tick a few boxes. I demolished it sat on a step outside the town hall and watching events unfold at the Cathedral opposite. There were fire and ambulance personnel on top of the highest tower. I later checked it out online and it turned out a member of the public had climbed the steps up to the top of the cathedral and had then collapsed, probably due to the exertion. They couldn't get the guy down so used an aerial ladder platform to get him back to street level.
"What's going on, mate?" asks a nosey parker
Chester Cathedral and the aerial ladder platform used to remove the casualty
www.chesterchronicle.co.uk/news/chester-cheshire-news/chester-cathedral-drama-man-taken-7707366
The main drag in Chester. Very nice too.
Lunch over and emergency services now having departed, it was my turn to make headway. Warrington was the next port of call and a visit to the Mecca that is Decca. The bridge at Runcorn stood in my way and I had read reports in the past that it was a nightmare crossing for cyclists. It does have a cycle path but for out of towner's it is pretty tricky to get onto. I'll probably just have to blast across it and keep my fingers crossed. The Stanlow Oil refinery which provides a lot of the petrol and diesel for the north of the country came across my radar. Wow... that would be worth a drive by. It certainly made for an impressive detour...... Not really.... I'd made a wrong turning. By now I was wary of the battery level on my mobile. I was using Strava to record the ride and after sending a text update to the misses in Chester put the phone into airplane mode to conserve battery life. I also decided to save screen usage as I wasn't too bothered about navigation so decided to make my way home by using of the mapping stored in my head. If I was going for a big mileage it would actually be a bonus to clock up some extra miles.
Runcorn Bridge finally appeared and it certainly was a dodgy crossing. It carries a fast main road across the Mersey and the lanes are pretty narrow. I could see the cycle lane disappearing under the bridge at the far side of the dual carriageway but it would have been an act of suicide to attempt a crossing. Fortunately the traffic slowed sufficiently for me to follow the car in front without the traffic to the rear needing to pass. It was nice to get across in one piece.
Runcorn Bridge : A "don't try this at home" type of crossing
The mecca that is Decca in Warrington.
The mapping was used briefly to locate the Decathlon store in Warrington and I parked up outside, removed my cycling shoes and padded in with just my socks on. (oh yeah my bib shorts and shirt as well) . Straight to the swimming section and I spotted some swimming bags but not the one I wanted. "Flippin eck..!! Have they sold out?" I looked all over before asking a member of staff. A French lad who was keen to help. He couldn't find one on the shelves so asked a lass. French as well. "They were all sent to the Stockport store. I'm sorry..!!" she said. "Oh no... I've just cycled 132.8 miles to buy the bag and it says on your website you have two in stock", I said in a voice of despair. Surely I hadn't cycled all this way to be denied my purchase. Er indoors would go mad when I got home..!! The French lass said she would look in the warehouse. She'd been gone quite a while but returned with a smile on her face.... and the swimming rucksack in her hands. What a lovely lass she was..!! I thanked her for her help and went on my merry way. Shoes back on and rucksack bent double and shoved in the pannier, off I went on my return journey. I now wanted to beat my previous longest ride in a day which was 205 miles from London to York. I still felt fine and full of energy. I would probably have to return to Liverpool and back up the coast through Southport to get the miles in. A direct route up to Preston was out of the equation.
The traffic was mega busy leaving Warrington and stayed that way all the way to Liverpool and beyond. Fortunately Roy the Rocket's East Lancs Road cycle path came to the rescue. It's no wonder he is infatuated with the thing. It is as smooth as a baby's bottom and it is little wonder he clocks up 20 mph rides on such a luxurious path. Spoilt rotten that lad..!!
Liverpool appeared on the horizon along with it's horrible pot holed roads. I headed for Bootle and out of the city on the Southport road. An Aldi store appeared as if by magic and a sandwich and banana smoothie refreshed the parts that Heineken would not be touching on such a long day. By the time I reached Southport the sun was low down on the horizon and about to set. I looked across the River Ribble and could clearly see Blackpool Tower and the Pleasure Beach.
Sunset at Southport
It would be ages before I was on the other side of the water. The estuary is pretty long before it reaches Preston. The bike lights went on and I nailed it to Preston and beyond .... still feeling pretty strong. Passing through Lytham, a cyclist appeared up ahead. He was travelling at a similar sort of pace but I eventually overhauled him before St.Annes. "I hope he doesn't turn this into a man test", I murmured to myself as I passed by with a cheery "hello". I had now cycled over 200 miles and it was the last thing I needed. After a while I looked over my shoulder and he was doing his best to keep up. "Bugger..!!" I cranked up the speed and kept putting useful distance between ourselves, only to have it wiped out at a multitude of traffic lights. Squires Gate appeared and I caught the lights before they changed to red. That should see him off once and for all. The illuminations were nice and bright and took my mind off my backside. I had started to get a bit of saddle soreness from Preston onwards. The Tower looked well all lit up, as did the big wheel on central pier. I decided to stop for a photo shoot. It wasn't long before my mantester passed by. He disappeared into the distance at a vastly reduced speed. "Ha haa.... hope you're well and truly knackered mate..!!" I chuckled to myself... lol...
Blackpool seafront. A familiar sight.
Photos taken, the last part of the journey back to Fleetwood soon went by. I was short of the 220 mile target I was hoping for so put in a few twists and turns to bump it up before heading home. Er indoors was sat there watching telly and it was gone 10pm. "Hiya", I said cheerfully. "Oh.. You're still alive then? I've been worried and tried to ring you and texted"
Hmmmhhh oh dear..... not quite the welcome home I had expected after a long bike ride. "Ermmm soz abowt that" I smiled. "I had to put my phone into airplane mode from Chester to save the battery" She was happy with the rucksack when I showed it her but she remained rivetted to the telly. Feeling peckish I went into the kitchen and what looked like my meal was on the side. It looked like I was in the doghouse. Oh well. I'll have a jacket potato with a bit of cheese and a pint pot of tea. That'll do. The misses went to bed and I followed an hour later as I started to drop off in front of the laptop.
A very enjoyable day. Mission accomplished..!!
The Bag..!! Reduced to Β£12.99 ...