when I strap my helmet on I'll be long gone...

I woke this morning, first at six, when Jack and Jan were getting up, and then at eight, which is when I got up. They were just leaving for Jan to go to work, so I got to tell her goodbye, and Jack gave me instructions about the bicycle. Then I got ready, and had breakfast – “malted wheaties,” this time, which are basically very slightly malt flavored wheat chex – and got online for a little bit, and by that time Jack was home. And then at about 9:30 I left for a bike ride.

This was a splendid adventure. Jack said that if I wanted a three mile loop I could just turn right down the main road, then turn right again three times at each of the next main crossroads, and I’d make a square and come back. But I wasn’t confident enough of a new bicycle, or of my skills after not having biked all winter, or of riding on the left side of the road, to want to go too far at first, so I turned left instead and explored Gorefield for a bit.

I found some snowdrops:

I turned down various small roads, exploring – it was bright and sunny and everything was beautiful. I went down one small pretty road:

where I found this place:

that I thought my brother would like to see.

[This is another place on that road. It's the sort of thing you see everywhere in England. Quite ordinary, really.]

I continued down that road until it turned into a more main road and went out of Gorefield, then I turned around to retrace back the way I’d come. I was aiming to go back past St. Marks Road (that’s their little street) and maybe then take the route Jack had recommended, but I took a wrong turning, and went quite a ways down a main road that wasn’t the correct one. When I reached the roses greenhouse I knew that this was not the way I had come, because I would have remembered the greenhouse. So I turned around and went back. Then I came to Fendyke Lane, and I thought I remembered passing it, so I thought if I went down it I would come out in a place I had been.

So I rode down Fendyke Lane for rather a long way, and came out at a main road. I wasn’t sure which way to turn, so I went left because that way is easier (like turning right is easier in the States) and continued on. After about two minutes I reached a sign that said “Leverington,” which meant I of course was no longer in Gorefield, and not going toward home. So I pulled off, and got out my map. The map requires some puzzling to be of any use, because it’s rather zoomed out, and none of the roads are labeled. But I could see from it, at least, that Leverington was east of Gorefield, so I needed to go back west. And as it was nearing eleven by now, the direction of the sun would be about south. So since the sun was currently on my right hand, if I turned around and continued on this main road going the opposite direction, I ought to run into Gorefield eventually. I could see a road on the map that seemed to be the one I was on.

So that’s what I did. It was little scary to be on the main road, because there isn’t enough room to cycle on the shoulder of the road, so you have to just go in the lane and have cars pass you in the other line, as though you were a car yourself. But nobody minds you doing that, because there aren’t very many cars anyway.

In less than five minutes, I came to a sign that said “Gorefield >>” so I turned right, down a road called Wolf Lane. I was very encouraged by the fact that I was now assured of going in the right direction. Wolf Lane has no buildings or trees and the land was dead flat and a stiff north wind was blowing. The cycling was keeping me warm, but pedaling into the wind was rather difficult.

Here is the view on my left:

And on my right:

And the view down the road:

That road took me on in to Gorefield. Once in Gorefield, I found a playground, which seemed a very nice place to stop to rest. While I was at the playground the sky clouded over.

That tunnel of sticks is all pussywillow branches.

This is a marvelously dangerous play structure. See?

So they have useful signs.

Here is Jan's bicycle, which is what I'm riding:

Next to the playground was a pretty little road that was going in what I thought was the right direction, so I went down it.

and to my surprise I came around to the front of the house I had been at the back of!

[You probably can't see it, but that little sign by the garage says "Bramley House".]

As I had stopped and was getting my camera out, a man came out of the house, so I explained.

“Do you mind if I take a picture of your house? I have a brother named Bram, and I think he’d like to see it.” My voice came out in an English accent, so I let it.

I don’t remember what he said, only that it was the English equivalent of, “Sure, go ahead.” So I did.

When I went on to the end of that lane, I found that I had come out back on a road I had been on toward the beginning of my ride, and this time when I came to the turn I had got wrong before, I went a different way, and then, suddenly, there was St. Marks Road, and I was back.

Jack was just about to go off to “the tip” to throw out some things from the garage (they pronounce it with the accent on the first syllable and with both “a”s short), which they’re going through as they prepare to move. So after we had tea, we left.

Here is "the tip":

Each of the bins is for a different sort of rubbish.

Jack was throwing out a panda bear that his father made. I was sad. He had thrown it away, and I couldn’t bear it, and I went up and the worker got it out for me, and so now I have a panda. His foot is coming off and needs fixing.

Then we went to get the car washed. It was quite exciting.

The soap comes out in three different colors!

This is what we had to drive through to get to and from the car wash:

Then we went into Wisbech for Jack to show me around. It was so fun, and everything was lovely.

Through this opening in a door:

I could see this:
Some views of Wisbech:

They call construction "works" in England.

Jack and I ate lunch at a charming little pub:

I found something very special in the middle of Wisbech - can you find it?

Here is Jack in front of Wisbech Castle:

The back garden of the castle:

A room full of dishes, inside the castle:
Part of the inside of the big stone church:

Best graffiti ever:

(the small handwritten writing says "dinosaurs", in case you can't read it.)

Part of the way back to the car:

After that we stopped at Boots, which is the chemists - a sort of CVS equivalent - so I could buy chapstick. They have a strawberry kind that is still white instead of colored pink. It's nice.

Then we went home, and I read for a while and worked on this blog while Jack went to get Jan, and then we watched the weakest link, and had amazing pizza for dinner. Ham, bacon, and mushroom. Mmmmm. And now we're playing Sorry on the Wii, and I'm finally done with this very long and very picture-heavy blog post!