Two Rusty Old Pumps and a Bicycle.....

One of my cycling buddies.... Jason Boynton-Lee... sent me this picture today....
He took it when out on one of his cycle rides yesterday.......

Knowing that I like images of things like old petrol pumps.... in fact anything man made that is being taken over or reclaimed by nature......  he thought that I would enjoy the image....

Well I did enjoy the image so I decided to share it.....
It is a similar shot to the one of three old pumps that I posted on this blog earlier in the year when I was cycling in the Hereford area.......

Jason said:-

"I decided that this autumnal pic needed a suitable title so I came up with:-
The futility of man's technology against the inevitable vengeance of nature.

Or for those with little imagination:-
Two rusty old pumps and a bicycle"

I like the shot and also Jason's sense of humour....

Stable Weather and 100 miles....

Yes...since we have been back at this location the stable weather has continued....

New pitch and continued good weather.

Good stable weather means more opportunities to get out on the bike and work on my fitness...

This past week I met up with Jon Joynes who rode with me on the 10in10 and Jason Boynton-Lee who I have known for a good few years and rode the ACCR with back in 2009.

(LtoR) Jon and Jason enjoying the after ride coffee and cake.

 Due to pressures of a job change Jon has not managed to get out on the bike much this year so it was decided that we would just do a short loop around some of the local Dorset countryside...
Sticking mainly to the local lanes we enjoyed an almost traffic free route......

Jason is currently the fittest of all my cycling mates due to this year really putting in the miles and the day of our ride was no different.... 
Before we did our loop Jason had already completed over thirty miles cycling over to our meet up point from Totton near Southampton....

After our ride together we all enjoyed coffee and cake in Wimborne Square....

Following our after ride indulgence Jason headed back home again aiming to complete the Magic 100 miles.....

Jason sent me a text later with an image of another chunk of cake that he had enjoyed on his return ride and confirmation that he had achieved his goal with 100.8 miles recorded on his bike computer....

Our faithful steeds.....

A Noticeable Change

One of the things that you pick up on when living outdoors over many months is the way the seasons change.....
Once August was done and dusted, obviously the nights started to draw in quickly but in the last two weeks they have really sped up.... The moment any sun starts to go down the temperature drops quite rapidly.

It's not just in the evenings either...in the morning gone is the light that a few months ago used to filter through our pop top and now the transition from night to daylight seems long and drawn out....even the sound of the dawn chorus has changed.

Now I am not saying that you don't notice these things when living under a normal roof but when living outdoors over a longish period these changes seem to affect you more...
We check the temperature a couple of times a day which is something that I hardly ever did at Purple Towers...I check it because it affects us in a closer way.... 

Because the weather also has a big effect on every thing we do, from taking the awning down....putting the awning up.....moving on to the next site....I find myself checking the hourly forecasts rather than just a daily one....

I suppose what I am trying to say is that we have become more aware of how changes in the natural world affect our daily life.....

Today we packed our awning and the rest of our kit away again as we our moving on tomorrow.
We are moving back to our last site for a further three weeks before heading to our winter season pitch in early November.....

Below is a picture of more fungi....
This little group has sprung up behind the hedge that we have been camping close to...note the large cluster growing out of the tree stump.....

The latest group of Fungi.....

After ride drinks.......

Well, if the latest forecasts are anything to go by, the good weather that we have been enjoying for just over a week is all set to change.....

It's a pity because I have been really enjoying getting out on the bike in the glorious weather and starting to improve my fitness levels......

Mind you.... after the rides each day I have been taking advantage of the sun and have been sitting out in front of my awning next to my bike loaded and primed with my after ride drinks.....

It's probably not helped to improve the fitness levels too much but it just had to be done.....

My after ride drinks.....

Great Riding Weather.....

Since we have been at this campsite the weather has been really good......
Dry....Sunny and warm and in short, great riding weather....
Back on some of the cycling loops that I know well I have been trying to get my fitness level back up to somewhere close to where it should be.......

The Tifosi with the Horton Tower in the Background

 I have been enjoying my riding very much although I must say that since I last rode in this area the condition of the roads has deteriorated a lot.... 
On the downhill sections I have been quite cautious as there seems to be lots of ruts and pot holes just waiting to throw off the unsuspecting cyclist....

Just outside of the village of Horton is the Horton Tower. 
This is also known as Sturts Tower having been built by Sir Humphrey Sturt who was born in 1725..
To some it is an interesting folly and to others it is a blot on the landscape....
To it's builder it was a seat from which he could watch the hunt when he became too old to ride to hounds himself......he also liked to use it to gaze up at the heavens and he liked to call it Horton Observatory....
It is a red brick Gothic style building and can be seen in the background on the hill in the above picture....

A road junction on my route and a nice seat on which to take a short break.

Further along on my route and I arrived at one of regular stops....
It is a road juction not far from the village of Witchampton..... 
A triangle of grass with a tree in the middle and a lovely seat all around the trunk of the tree.... You just have to stop and take advantage of the seat and take in your surroundings....