Canals and country pubs

Last night Callum and I decided we should bite the bullet and so some exercise. We decided on a bike ride, because then we could motivate ourselves with country pubs. He even had a bike I could borrow. So I got up early(ish) and headed round to his, only to presented with a tiny clown bike for our 40 mile trip. 

So maybe that's a slight exaggeration. It was however definitely child size...(also I've looked better. Deal with it). Callum looked much better on his adult size bike. 

It was a really nice ride though. It turns out after complaining about having nowhere nice to run/cycle the cycle path is right near the Uni house I'm about to leave. I'm a bit devastated by it. 

Beautiful. There were canal boats dotted along the way too, which made me contemplate a life on the water Rosie and Jim style. I'm not sure I could deal with having one room though, I'm not as little as they were...

We didn't quite make it to Newbury. We got distracted by this pub...

 

We'd made it about 15 miles, so we'd definitely earned ourselves a glass of wine. The Rowbarge Woolhampton did not disappoint. It was so lovely, and the staff were fantastic. All the food looked great too, but having a long cycle home we opted for a light lunch.

I had the smoked salmon sandwich on rye, and he went for rare roast beef with horseradish, and we swapped halves. Mine was good, his was slightly lacking - a bit dry, a bit tasteless. Such a shame, but the chips were fab and the hot food looked great (also the crisps were a bit naff). The pub had a lovely feel though, a great set out and as I say, lovely staff. 

You can check it out here. 

Help for Heroes Big Battlefield Bike Ride 2013

I was going to tell you about Paris. I will next, I promise. And this is, sort of...

I just had a visit from my wonderful Dad, who's just got back from doing the Help for Heroes Big Battlefield Bike Ride 2013, a bike ride from Paris to London visiting all the war sites between. I was there to see them all off from Les Invalides in Paris, a military museum, and a hospital/retirement home for war veterans.

The Duchess of Cornwall even dropped by to show her support. You'll have to excuse the photos, I only had my phone on me. There are much better ones all over the news and the Help for Heroes website (along with upcoming events and merchandise). These events tend to make me pretty emotional, coming from a military family, and it was especially poignant after the recent events in both London and Paris.

I always come away from though literally glowing with pride, not just for my Dad (pictured in the fetching yellow glasses, looking much more energetic than he did on his return) and the people I know taking part, but the entire Help for Heroes family.

Unfortunately I couldn't make it to see them all on the homeward stretch past the Cenotaph and the Horse Guards Parade, but I know lots of people made an appearance to show their support. It's always a big event and I'm gutted I missed out. I'm so, so proud of everyone involved!