I like to ride my bicycle, I like to ride my bike...

This past weekend I took the opportunity to go on a bike ride with the head of the science department, Nigel. I presented him with the idea some months ago, and we agreed when the weather would be more favourable and when some of the business has settled down at school we would give it a go. On Saturday, we strapped the bikes on the back of Nigel’s Nissan and headed off northeast towards Ipswich. I enjoyed being in a car on the motorway, which is still a novelty for me due to the fact that I normally take the train or bus to get around the country. We got off the motor way just before Ipswich and drove towards the ocean to the conservation Park Alton Waters. It is a reservoir created by damming up a river and flooding out the village of Alton (sans villagers, I assume) to supply the area with water. Nigel said that in Shropshire, his old stomping grounds, one could see the walls of the submerged buildings of similarly created reservoirs whilst boating across it when the water was clear and low enough. Saturday turned out to be next to perfect for a ride, aside from the dry weather that caused Nigel’s hay fever to act up. The path around the reservoir was well managed and easy enough to tackle with my 12 gear second-hand bike. It was the highlight of the weekend. It was also the Queen's official birthday (80 yrs old), which was celebrated with fly-bys, originating in Norfolk. Nigel and I actually saw them fly over head in Essex while we were on our bike ride!

I find that I have been caught up with the events of the World Cup, held in Germany. England has made it through to the last 16 teams, and will play against Ecuador on the 24th. I still have mixed feelings about the healthy competitive atmosphere of the World Cup fans verses the tendency for some fans to get too caught up in emotions mixed with the overindulgence of alcohol. Some of the fans have been great, they say. But even back in the UK, police expect for emergency calls reporting domestic abuse to rise 40% on days England is playing. I’ll just stay in my flat, and I should be fine, as long as my downstairs neighbour doesn’t get too exuberant with his funky-smelling party.

Shalom
Kevin