Cycle Oxford Festival : May 7th - 9th

A weekend of events including bicycle polo, alleycat rides (a kind of treaure hunt on bikes), bike bell orchestra and a cargo bike race is to be held from 7th to 9th May in Oxford. The city is renowned for being cycling friendly so we are sure the event will be a great success. Anyone can take part in the activities - just bring your bike! For further information go to www.myspace.com/oxfordbikefestival

Borough Market

London brims with markets in all shapes and sizes. We love Borough Market located just off the Thames Path under the arches of London Bridge and behind Southwark Cathedral.  Apparently there have been traders here for hundreds of years and a market since the mid 18th Century selling fruit, vegetables,bread and meat.  Now, there's a huge variety of produce on offer and much is reared, grown or made by the stall holders which is why the place is so vibrant and full of passion. The community of 130 traders from all over England, Europe and further afield are a draw for chefs, restauranteurs and all who care deeply about food.   So visit when its open on Thursday, Fridays and Saturdays. If you like less busy then make it Thursday. Their website also offers some interesting recipes.
Take in the market on our walking and cycling tours

Bath and Jane Austen

Jane Austen is one of Bath's most famous residents. She and her family lived there from 1801 for 5 years when it was a thrivimg spa resort and popular with  fashionable society. Two of Austen's novels - Northanger Abbey and Persuasion  are largely set in Bath. The BBC rendition of Persuasion was partly filmed in Bath with the ballroom scenes being staged in one of its elegant town houses. If you want to stay in this immaculately restored house then take our Cotswolds and Bath Tour and you will have 2 fine nights there.
If you fancy dressing up in full Regency costume and parading the streets then you could visit the Jane Austen Festival which this year takes place from September 17 - 25
If you want to download a free audio walking tour of Austen's Bath - In the Footsteps of Jane Austen, then click here

Jane may have sighed wearily as she wrote to a friend "that Bath is still Bath" ; we're just thankful that its so well preserved.

Salisbury Plain, Bike Routes and Exclamation Marks

I was taking a look at Salisbury Plain last week on a grey and overcast day when the would be stunning views across this 300 square miles of chalk downland were invisible. Nonetheless, this is an extraordinary area. Its the largest remaining tract of calcareous grassland in northwest Europe largely due to it being a military training ground since the mid 1800s - a fact one cannot escape with the everpresent Danger signs

Sill, I was intrigued as there is a Sustrans bike route that hugs the northern edge of the plain and then turns south across it to Larkhill. Once you've hauled yourself  up the steep slope onto the plateau, there is a wonderful hard surfaced road. No tanks, shells or bombs were to be heard or seen; just the odd horse rider and the sound of the wind in the occasional tree. As we rode west (on 2 wheels not 4 legs) following  the White Horse Trail it all seemed  too good to be true. And alas it was! As we turned south still following Route 45 we were abruptly halted by a barrier and guard and our route firmly verbotten.

It turns out that the military have well and truly sewn up the area and the route is never cyclable on weekdays until after 5pm and two days a week you will have to wait until midnight. Even weekends are a dodgy do as training takes place one weekend in every month. I'm surprised that Sustrans define this as a route. Their online map shows it with an exclamation mark but I'd have thought a skull and crossbones were more appropriate.
Verbotten weekends this summer are May 15/16, June 12/13, July 10/11, August 31/Sept 1 and Sept 4/5 although I was told these can be cancelled
For a headache free ride avoiding the Plain ask about our extended.Cotswolds and Bath Tour.
Photo copyright Rog Frost

Mistley

Spent some time this week exploring the Stour estuary, Harwich, Mistley and Woodbridge on the Essex/Suffolk border. I was hoping to cycle some of the 'European long distance route' which on my map is shown as projected to run to Harwich along the south side of the Stour estuary. I assumed it was the North Sea Cycle Route which runs through 7 countries for 6,000km bordering the North Sea.

Ha, ha it proved to be a non event. Not sure if it will be there one day or its direction has changed to the bike route that does exist and that follows the coast south from Harwich.

However, disappointment didn't last long when we came to Mistley, a little further inland along the estuary. Its full of surprises with its Robert Adam towers and swan basin (image) , the Mistley Quay workshops with some choice arts and crafts and a cafe never to be missed and to top it all Mistley Thorn restaurant with rooms where we had our best dinner for years.

Rousham Gardens

I was at a talk this week by English garden designer Arne Maynard. He obviously loves the gardens at Rousham House in Oxfordshire, as I do, which were designed by William kent (1685-1748) and remain almost as kent left them. Ponds, cascades and rills remain in situ along with a fabulous seven arched viewpoint overlooking the river with a pretend ruin in the vista beyond. Its a garden that plays with light and shade and exudes peace. The walled garden has a wonderful dovecote, as above. I also like Rousham because its so uncommercial and whenever you are there, you seem to have the place to yourself. We hope Rousham will feature in a new cycling and boating tour we are putting together for this summer.

New Website

Finally, after many months, the new Capital Sport website is live. We've added to our cycling holidays by offering walking, boating and gastronomic tours.  One of the new features we like a lot are the google maps we have created for each individual tour.  The very large images are also great - I've always homed in on the pictures and headlines of any script!

Happy browsing.