Rivington Pike, Lancashire

Led by Mike. With Eddie, Gordon, Barry, Maureen and me. Fine and dry after a wet morning. 1 162 feet of climbing, 10 miles walking. Max elevation 1 283 - on the ridge.




After breakfast the weather looked distinctly unfriendly, so we headed for the town centre, picked up some provisions from Booths, and wandered round the market.



Still the weather gods were not smiling. OK, a garden centre/emporium/café visit could do the trick.

Eddie claims his bench, Maureen claims an Eddie

Soon after midday the clouds lifted and the downpour stopped. Time to head for the hills. We park at the Great House Barn, with its café and the Go Ape treetop adventure park.

This is as Ape as we're Going today

We walk alongside Lower Rivington Reservoir, cross to the upper reservoir. We walk on the west and north sides of Yarrow reservoir, gradually gaining some height.










We head east and make a small detour to visit the Wellington Bomber Memorial










In memory ofsix airmen killed when a Wellington bomber

crashed on these moors on Nov 12th 1943
Back down to Lead Mines Clough, and a steady climb along track and footpath.













It gets boggy near the top, until we reach the magnificent flagstone causeway at the highest point of the ridge. We turn sharply to the right and head more or less south toward Rivington Road. When the flagstones stop we follow the wall downhill.





A quick break - I'm ready for those sandwiches now!





We reach the road and turn right for a short distance before turning off to the left along Georges Road - for some reason I didn't take photos of the surface! One of the least comfortable underfoot, anywhere.

This takes us gently round to the Pigeon Tower, at the top of the Terraced Gardens, designed by Thomas Mawson in the 1920s, for Lord William Leverhulme of soap and Port Sunlight fame.

The Pigeon Tower

A brief exploration and off we go towards the tower on the Pike itself.





Winter Hill, not too far away is higher, but the views from the Pike are well worth the climb, even though they are a little hazy.









From here it's all downhill. First the gardens and their ruins and lake.









Then down through the woods, past Rivington Hall and Barn, and on to the car park.





For a couple of us, a turn round the car park brings the total mileage to over ten. Whatever can be measured will be measured even unto the point of meaninglessness?



A fine walk, with a real "hill" feel. A bonus - we found a few bilberries.









We get back and have time to change and go out for our meal to celebrate Gordon's approaching special birthday.

The Patron Saint of Bicyclists

"Here, this is for you."



I put out my hand to receive what resembled a brass bracelet, crumpled and oxidised with age.



"I've rescued a few of these off of trashed roadsters over the years. Lovely things they are..."



And that is how I came to possess aSt. Christopher bicycle medallion - a Catholic charm given to me by a Protestant, in Northern Ireland. "Behold St. Christopher and go your way in safety," reads the inscription.






The patron saint of travelers, St. Christopher has been popular with bicyclists in some cultures. In Ireland, various bike accessories with images of the saint can be found - most commonly bells. Medallions like this one are rarer, but this particular one seems to have been popular in County Donegal in the Republic and adjacent areas of Northern Ireland throughout the 1930s-50s. Every so often, the local priest would hold a "blessing of the bikes," with these medallions made for the occasion. Members of the congregation would bring their roadsters to be blessed, at which time the priest would affix the medallion around their seat tubes. The bikes and their journeys would thereupon be protected.





Soldered onto a bracket, the medallion is thin, lightweight and flexible, with a closure that makes it adaptable to a wide range of surfaces.





Local Catholics seem to hold differing opinions regarding St. Christopher. Some have told me he is a made-up saint, just a lucky charm for superstitious travelers. Others say he was indeed a real saint, but has been "retired" by the church. Others still remember people riding with such medallions on their bikes decades ago.



TheBlessing of the Bikesritual has been revived in recent years, mainly in the US. As far as I know, St. Christopher is not mentioned in the proceedings.

Reading New York to Lockport New York

Williamsburg Houses

What I really love about houses is that they are beautiful in the same way people are. Their beauty is in their uniqueness.

You can never go home again, but the truth is you can never leave home, so it's all right. ~Maya AngelouHome is a place not only of strong affections, but of entire unreserve; it is life's undress rehearsal, its backroom, its dressing room. ~Harriet Beecher Stowe

This quote shares the same sentiments that I felt while looking at these homes:

Home is the one place in all this world where hearts are sure of each other. It is the place of confidence. It is the place where we tear off that mask of guarded and suspicious coldness which the world forces us to wear in self-defense, and where we pour out the unreserved communications of full and confiding hearts. It is the spot where expressions of tenderness gush out without any sensation of awkwardness and without any dread of ridicule. ~Frederick W. Robertson Home is not where you live, but where they understand you. Christian Morganstern



My favorite house of all yesterday was this next one. As soon as I saw it, I said...it's a Lemoney Snickett kind of a house. And because we've been married awhile, and more importantly because we read the entire A Series of Unfortunate Events series as a family...Nathan knew exactly what I meant.

Living the life in Virginia!

Who Wants a T-Shirt?

The other day I received a couple of t-shirts from Jon Gehman (maker of the Roadster Rack I wrote about earlier). These come in funky colours and are made based on his pen and ink drawings of wacky bike cartoons. I have more t-shirts than I know what to do with, so I thought it would be fun to give them away! Here is what I got:



"Biker Chick". This t-shirt is sage green and features a drawing of a Mennonite(?) woman in a bonnet and apron, riding a step-through bicycle with a basket and baby chicks on the rear rack. (Take that, WSJ!) The size is marked "M", but I would say it is an XS-S - suitable either for ladies size 0-4, a child, or a very scrawny man. It is longish in the torso. 100% cotton.



"Go Gitcher Bike, Let's Roll!" This t-shirt is bright turquoise and features a drawing of a mischievous boy, about to take off on his 1950s banana seat cruiser. The size is marked "L", and I would say it is a ladies' L / men's M. In the picture I am cinching it at the waist, but in actuality it is loose throughout. 100% cotton.

If you'd like one of these t-shirts, please leave a comment with the funniest, or silliest, or stupidest, or cleverest bicycle-related slogan you have seen (or came up with yourself), and don't forget to mention which of the two shirts you want. I will pick a recipient for each t-shirt at the end of this weekend. Continental USA only please (unless you are willing to pay for the shipping). As some of you know, I am very bad with mailing stuff, but I promise I'll be good on this one and will try to send the shirts to their rightful owners quickly!





[Edited to add: The recipient of the green t-shirt is sarahgringa. Turquoise shirt goes to MandG. Please email your mailing address to: filigreevelo-at-yahoo-dot-com! ]

Shipping Bicycles: a Delicate Matter?

Over the past couple of years, I have gotten the sense that shipping bicycles in the USA has become increasingly difficult - particularly bikes that are larger and heavier than a standard modern roadbike. Bike boxes aren't typically made large enough anymore, and the correct size can be next to impossible to hunt down.Shipping companies can give dramatically incorrect estimates for what the service will cost (this happened to me the last time I sold a bike and shipped it myself).And there are lots of accounts of bikes getting damaged in transit despite careful packaging.




For the recipient, receiving a damaged bicycle can be heartbreaking - especially if the damage is something major, like a dent in the frame. For the sender, damage in transit can mean having to pay for it, or at least meeting the recipient half way, if the shipment was not insured or the insurance does not come through.




Personally the only way I feel comfortable shipping a bicycle now is via a bike shop. Yes, we can pack bicycles ourselves and we can do an excellent job. But nonetheless we are not recognised as "professionals." Bike shops are. This apparently can play a role if there is damage in transit and an insurance claim is filed. "Was the bike professionally packed?"




Unfortunately not all bike shops are willing to ship bicycles anymore, especially not large or heavy bikes. This seems to be a recent development: A couple of shops in my neighbourhood used to offer this service, but stopped a year or two ago. Still, in my view finding a good bike shop that does provide the service is worth it. And getting the shipment insured is a must.




What has been your experience with shipping or receiving bicycles over the past year? Do you prefer to ship bikes yourself or to use the services of a bike shop? And in cases of damage in transit, how was the situation resolved? Tips and advice much appreciated.

Christmas Cookies

The topic for the December 8th installment of the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories hosted by Thomas MacEntee is: "Christmas Cookies. Did your family make Christmas Cookies? How did you help? Did you have a favorite cookie?"

My Mother and I have been making cookies together for at least the last 20 or so years. Snickerdoodles, Oatmeal Raisin, Gingerbread Men (and Women), frosted Sugar Cookies of various shapes sprinkled with colored sugar, and others too.





Mom made cookies for Christmas and at other times of the year when I was growing up but not for gift giving and not to the extent that we have been doing these past 20 years. After Thanksgiving we buy all of the ingredients we'll need and then the first full weekend of December we start mixing and baking. I've never counted up how many dozens we make, but depending upon the type of cookie, each batch makes between 3 and 4 dozen cookies. We usually made four batches of Snickerdoodles, Oatmeal, and Sugar Cookies but only two batches of Gingerbread cookies and a batch or two of several other varieties. The past two years we've reduced the number of batches by about half, but it is still a lot of work. And it is still fun. I wonder what would happen if we didn't make them?

After the cookies are baked and cooled, they get stored in sealed containers in the garage (where it is cool) until we are ready to package them, usually the following weekend. Our big family Christmas dinner is normally a week or so before Christmas so they don't need to be frozen for long-term storage. Mom mixed up a batch of Snickerdoodles today. Since her oven isn't working right, I'll be baking them tomorrow as well as mixing and baking a couple batches of oatmeal raisin cookies and a batch of Gingerbread cookies. Probably won't make the Sugar Cookies this year though - I really never did like having to roll out the dough, mess with cookie cutters, and then decorating them. Ours sure never looked like the ones shown above! My favorite cookies are the Oatmeal Raisin and the Gingerbread.

A couple of recipes I found online are quite similar to the recipes that we use. The recipe for Oatmeal Raisin cookies comes straight from the Quaker Oats box! When searching for these recipes, I found it amusing that the Sunmaid website called them Raisin-Oatmeal cookies. The pictures used above came from the sites below.

• Snickerdoodles
• Sugar Cookies
• Gingerbread Cookies
• Oatmeal Raisin Cookies