Bicycle Madness…

We were in the village for this year’s Prudential 100 Cycle ride. The roads were closed off and the day started early with the amateur riders appearing at around 8am and continuing through until about 2pm when the professionals came through. The weather was not kind to the cyclists as they were subjected to torrential rain and winds from the tail end of hurricane Bertha. Some of the hill climbs were deemed to be too dangerous in the rain with the roads becoming slick but by the time the professionals came through the weather had improved. Still we thought we would take refuge in the pub before moving on to the village green where we watched them loop back around on the giant screen until the passed through the village again. We watched the subsequent loops around Denbies, Ranmore, Westcott and Dorking in the comfort of home along with the challenging Box Hill stage and the final run back into London. We had a lot of fun and we were very impressed with the athleticism of all those who took part.

Almost Morris…

We made a journey out to see the Aldbury Morris Men dance out at a fair with Sue’s sister Debs as she had never seen them perform, but due to the traffic hold ups on the various motorways we arrive just as they were finishing. So she still hasn’t seen them. We were assured they performed a spectacular set.

Tabletop Fun…

I got together with James and Martin to play a few games and we were introduced to Ellie, James and Nikala’s second child.

Garden Parties…

We have been to a couple of birthday celebrations in people’s gardens recently. Lorraine and Paul hosted one for a few of the girlfriends and it culminated in karaoke and the party for Lou’s 40^th was also a lively affair.

Wot we have seen…

We went out on a school night, venturing down to Brighton for a little escapism. I had bought tickets to the The Harvest Sessions hosted by the fabulous House of Hats and accompanied by the lively Will & The People. The venue was the compact and friendly Komedia and we had a light supper before hand at Bill’s. House of Hats are an Americana styled band with lovely harmonies, sweet melodies and touching lyrics and we bought their new album. Will & The People upped the tempo and got the joint jumping with their hybrid punk/ska/reggae/surfer rock rhythms and energetic performance.

Messing about on the river…

We went out with some old colleagues on a canal boat owned by the parents of one of them. The route took us along the Thames a short distance and up the Wey navigation to the Anchor at Pyrford where we had lunch and then returning back the way we came. People took turns at the helm or working the locks as they wanted too and some liked to get their monies worth by using all of the canal/river. Sue enjoyed it so much she tried to convince me that we should sell up and become water gypsies, but to no avail.