I have been very sporadic where exercise is concerned for the last few weeks. Loads of things can be used as excuses but nothing serious so it's history.
A few weeks ago Peter, Isobel and myself decided to start walking the Calder and Hebble Navigation from it's beginning in Wakefield. Peter is still suffering with his back (slipped disc back in Feb) so we weren't going for a long walk.
We arrived at where we thought the start point was but couldn't find it. We found the river which the canal dips in and out of along the way but it took us a couple of miles of walking around Wakefield to actually find the canal. It was an inauspicious start as we had to walk down an industrial estate and climb over a bridge that spanned a wall. The path was very narrow and hardly looked like a path at all.
Fairly soon the path widened a bit and there were tons of big, beautiful blackberries just waiting to be picked. What a shame we hadn't taken anything with us that we could put them in.
We wandered on a bit further and came across a small pear tree. Again this was absolutely loaded with fruit but they were unripe. The branches were bending with the weight of them already though.
A little further along we came across a tree with yellow fruit on which we weren't sure about to begin with but them I realised they were yellow plums. We picked a few and ate them and they were sweet and juicy. Again there were loads of fruit on the tree. This was turning into a food trail.
The next thing we came across was a red plum tree. We tried them but they were quite sour but yet again there was a lot of fruit on the tree. There was another red plum tree further up.
We had walked about two miles along the canal and were surprised and delighted by the amount of free food that was available in such a short distance. We really enjoyed our little walk and the dogs did too. We will be following more of this canal when time permits.
Last Monday was a bank holiday so we went up to North Yorkshire with the canoes. There was a bit more water in the river this time but still not a lot. We just played in the water at the bottom mainly and did a bit of surfing on the small weirs. It's all good for exercise and practice.
Yesterday my friend rang me and asked if I fancied a short cycle ride on the Greenway today. I jumped at the chance.
When I got to her house I found there were going to be four of us in all and possible a fifth person too. Three of us had cycled to Hamm in Germany and back two years ago and the other lad was a mate of Graham's (there was Nin, Graham, Adam and myself). The other person didn't turn up. We cycled from Nin's house to the Greenway which isn't far away. Then we went the full length of the Greenway.
The Greenway has been closed for the best part of a year in parts due to a massive great new sewer pipe being put in. This is the first time I have been down it since it re-opened. A lot of the trees and shrubbery have been removed due to the scale of the work that has gone on.
Nin and Graham were quite speedy right from the start but Adam is an inexperienced cyclist and was lagging even behind me. The outward journey is gently downhill and very pleasant. It passes through urban, suburban and rural areas and is used by cyclists, walkers and horseriders (and the occasional skater and skier).
At the end of the Greenway is where the river joins with the canal and we had a short rest here before starting the return journey. This is when Nin and Graham seemed to take off and I felt sorry for Adam and used it as an excuse to ride more steadily with him. The other two waited for us further up the track and we carried on up the rest of the way. At the top we had a choice of routes via road. Whichever way we were to go it would be uphill. we eventually arrived back at Nin's house where her husband had laid on sandwiches, crisps, pork pie, iced water and coffee.
Adam's nether regions and legs were killing him, Graham's back was playing up and by the time I had cycled up another long hill to get home my quads were aching but at least I am back into the exercise and hopefully I will get back to losing a few pounds along the way.
