Blogs from Malvern, Worcestershire, England, United Kingdom, Europe

The Malvern Hills 18th-25th February 2016 Listen a moment. Above the whisper of a chill winter breeze a buzzard calls, a shrill mewing cry from high up there beyond the hills, soaring gracefully on broad wings across a cloud scattered sky. Such is the joy of the English countryside; those special moments when nature surprises us all with its delightful sights and sounds. Enjoy the panorama slideshow. The Buzzard has become a common sight across the UK in recent years after decades of persecution and it is now known to nest in every county in the country. Its significant presence above the Malvern Hills of Worcestershire and Herefordshire is recognized by a recent sculpture by Polish sculptor Walenty Pytel in the Rosebank Gardens of Great Malvern, commemorating the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee year. This time we’re here ... read more

Well, since coming back from Lithuania, life has been something of a blur what with settling into our new home, picking up my work after being away for a week and a half, getting back into my daily training and generally recovering from the aches and pains of our wonderful ride. I have been out for the ocaissional ride and jog, although my faithfull C Boardman bike is currently in the shop for a little TLC, new rear cassette, chain, cables etc as the last couple of years have tasken their toll :-) You can still see all my routes at http://www.mapmytracks.com/jag00 if you are interested and, if anyone is in the area and wants to join me one weekend, feel free. I thought I would use this entry as an opportunity to upload some of ... read more

Had a great training session today. Left home at 07:30 on a lovely sunny (albeit a tad cold at 1C) Sunday and headed to Powick and then picked up the National Cycle Network 442 from Worcester, through Pershore and on to Evesham. This was a straight "There and Back Again" route which saw be return on exactly the same route. I'll drop a couple of photos on later, although I didn't stop long enough or often enough to take many. There were loads of fellow cyclists out, especially around Evesham, which is testament to the great weather we had this weekend. All told this was a 47'ish miler which took about 3+ hours with a couple of leg aching hills enroute. This is a lovely part of England and has some stunning views back over the ... read more

Well , although this is listed as week 4 ,it is week 4 of the blog but more like week 10 of the training..thats cleared that up .So this week has been productive with two 25 mile hill rides , a 2 hour session at the Ladies Coll gym doing circuits (very tough) and today (sunday 27th) .I left home at 06.50 and cycled out to Malvern via Tewkesbury and Hanley Swan, returning via Eastnor Castle and back into Tewkesbury, a round trip of 56 miles fully loaded (see Pic)this was completed in just over 4.1/2 hours an average speed of 12.2 mph ,I felt this was ok considering this ride includes the tough climb to English Camp on the west of the Malvern Hills .I did stop at Upton on Severn for a quick bar ... read more

Day 394 We set off after work to Vicky's (our landlady/house mate) to her mum's house in Malvern (voted the one of the most beautiful and picturesque countryside of England. With a quick stop at Worscester for a pic of the cathedral glistening under a near full moon, we arrived at her mothers beautiful English house filled with traditional furniture, hundreds of tea cups and the most amazing dolls house I'd ever seen (It could have kept Carly entertained for hours) unfortunately it was time for bed! Day 395 After a much needed sleep in we cooked ourselves a traditional English breaky (well almost minus the black pudding and sausage) and set off up the Malvern hills with the dogs. (As we were dog sitting Vicky´s dog Tash and her mums dog Pippen for the day). ... read more