Hi all! It has been a fun and busy week here in Aldershot for the Piepers: Friday I shook Robin out of the sheets early to get going on our weekly walk. I had planned a six miler and wanted to have enough time to complete it. We actually did the entire walk and didn't get lost (a first). I've attached a couple of pictures from the day. This walk included an important cultural highlight - the grave of Sir Henry Morton Stanley (of "Dr. Livingstone, I presume" fame) in the churchyard in Pirbright. Seemed a strange place for him to be buried there to me and sure enough a search with Google upon returning home revealed that although he wanted to be buried in Westminster Abbey next to Livingstone permission was not granted due to suspicions of his mistreatment of Africans during his many years of exploration there. We had a great lunch at the Royal Oak pub. I was feeling quite snoozy in the afternoon but did force myself to go out for my scheduled run (life is SO demanding sometimes!). Saturday started with the alarm clock at 5am (actually it was me at 4:45am) as we had signed up to do a bike ride about 2 hours drive north of us. Of course, we needed to allow time for getting lost (which we did) and the ride started at 9am. The ride was put on by Audax UK (the equivalent of the randonneuring clubs in the US) and this one was quite popular from what we were told. It was called the Cotswold Corker. Webster's 2nd definition for corker is: "one that is excellent or remarkable" and it was an apt name for this ride. 108 kilometers and 6200 feet of climbing. There weren't any mountain passes like at home - just an unrelenting series of ridges and steep valleys. Beautiful scenery but one tough bugger to ride. I've attached a couple of pictures from the day. After the ride one of the organizers gave us a recommendation where to eat, the Highwayman pub, and even told me which beer to get but then warned me it was 5% alcohol. I told him it was fine because I wasn't driving! I did let Robin have a couple of sips and even managed to stay awake nearly the entire drive home to help with navigating (yes, another grueling day!). I am always amazed at how interesting people's stories are when you get them talking. We rode quite some time a gentleman who had spent many years sailboat racing including at the world cup level! He had finally given it up and was only pleasure cruising these days. I was a little alarmed though when he said his wife didn't crew for him - he had an "old bat" in her mid-forties that crewed for him. I objected to mid-forties falling into the "old bat" rating but he stuck to it. We also met a 79-year old man at one of the control/rest stops. He had worked all his career in the military/aerospace field so he and Robin got to chatting. I didn't hang around long though because he was a CRAB! He obviously felt that we Americans were vastly inferior to the British and had negative comments on just about everything. I told Robin later I thought the man was an old grump. Being old is fine but why bother if you're going to be a grump??? I got perverse pleasure later in passing him as he walked up a hill (so what if he's 35 years older than me - it felt GOOD!). One sign I've seen in some of the rural areas reads DEAD SLOW CHILDREN AND ANIMALS. Hmmm... Sunday it rained and we were SO happy it hadn't been the day before. Our Cotswold Corker ride would have been quite miserable with wet, muddy roads. We enjoyed spending most of the day watching the Olympics. British Eurosport is broadcasting 24-7 Olympics. The coverage is outstanding and unlike the coverage at home they don't show ONLY the events where they have a chance to medal! Well, I suppose showing ONLY curling would be a little extreme but still, the change is nice. Tuesday I ran along the Basingstoke Canal. It was raining lightly and the birds were singing as the raindrops fell softly on the water, the pathway, and the dry leaves beside the path. I've had many friends try to sell me on the idea of using an ipod for running to listen to music or books but I can't think of anything better to listen to than birds, raindrops, my feet crunching on the path, the sound of my breathing, and the startled scurry of some squirrel or rabbit. Unlike cycling in the rain I actually enjoy running in the rain - just a completely different experience. Robin made a tasty soup for our Valentine's lunch then dropped me in the neighboring town to search for swim fins and visit the library on his way to work. I even waited up my valentine to come home that night - such sacrifices! Wednesday we got our new heart rate monitor delivered so we took it out for a spin and scouted ou t an area to do a time trial to test our heart rate zones at some future point (when we're rested???). Back home to a happy event - my wash machine was finally fixed! The rest of the afternoon was spent washing, doing some work on the computer and watching Olympics. It was a busy day at work for Robin as they had a major change-out to do on the test model. They had to bring it out of the wind tunnel and flip it over. This had always been a major hassle and a bit dodgy to do in the past and Robin had designed a tool for the very purpose of flipping the model. He was very pleased that it worked nicely and the flip went smoothly. Nice to actually see positive results from your work. A few observations on British life: customer service, at least at the "superstores" is quite different than at home. The folks stocking shelves and filling on-line orders careen about the store with huge deadly carts and you are expected to get out of their way. If they are stocking shelves and you want to get in to where they are that's just too bad - they have work to do dang it! I was pulling out of a parking space a week or so ago and the guy wrangling the shopping trolleys (carts) just stepped right out behind me with his long line of carts and took several minutes getting it all lined up while I waited to pull out. Not big things I know but just different and enough to make you notice and reflect upon why we do things certain ways. Just like at home the smoking ban is big news here. Soon smoking will be banned in ALL pubs and restaurants. Even more of a culture shift here than at home I think and it'll be interesting to see how it works out. They seem to take their driving instruction and certification very seriously here. There are tons of driving schools and you see them on the roads all the time. Robin says this is one of the areas where you can get tested s o that is why there are so many schools. Still, it seems like the actually explain to the students the concept of sharing the road. Everyone has a right to be on the road. When a lane is partially blocked (as is nearly ALWAYS the case around here) drivers from the opposite direction take note of it and deviate from their line of driving to make room for the drivers coming from the blocked lane. No big deal, no horn honking or hand gestures, everyone just gets on with it. As cyclists we are accepted as part of the traffic flow. If they can't pass us they wait patiently until they can without driving right up our butts. Funny thing is one of our fellow riders on Saturday was telling me about riding in France and how much safer it was with the drivers there than here. He doesn't know how good he's got it! Lastly a word about the British penchant for class distinction. Class still seems to play a big role in society here. It reminds me of the scene from Monty Python's Holy Grail where Michael Palin is mucking about in a muddy field when he is approached by a knight asking directions. Palin had been pontificating on the injustice and inequality in the system and ended by claiming he was being repressed. Seems he still is. So, while that aspect of British life is HIGHLY irritating to me I can't help but remember that they DID produce Monty Python so they can't be all bad. Robin is already plotting for next year. The Tour de France will start in London in July and PBP will take place in August. Guess who wants to sign up for work in England next summer??? 1 item to add to my list of things I miss: my iron skillet - it makes the best blueberry pancakes and cornbread in the world! That's all from here. Hope you are all thriving! Amy