Gumley - Smeeton Westerby - Kibworth Beauchamp - Foxton - Gumley

Thursday 9 June . Barry and Eddie. Just over 8 miles. About 3 and a half hours. One of the more hilly walks in the area, and some good views. Not much arable field walking.

The Tower House Gumley - it used to be the stable block for the Hall.

St Helen's Church, Gumley.

Up above Gumley. Saddington reservoir is somewhere in the valley.

Fine views and splendid colours - the poppies have been magnificent this month.

The intrepid explorers (explorers are always intrepid)

As we walked downhill we noticed a raised ridge, clearly artificial, carrying water. At first it could almost have been a moat, although it didn't surround the hill, but continued flowing very slowly. So we had to investigate, and follow its course uphill and to the right of our official path. Eventually we found the spot where it joined the Grand Union Canal.






A little nearer to our route was the outlet for excess water, into a stream flowing through this culvert.

and where any excess water drains off.

For map etc

Otters, we have otters

It worked! Hubby put the game cam where something seemed to have created a path from the creek to the pond. We'd seen fresh otter scat near there.

I'd hoped that the flash would scare the otters away. Sure, they're cute, but they've eaten most of the fish from our ponds.

Considering that this picture was taken a full minute after the previous one, I don't think that strategy is going to work.
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When I swap over to the new Blogger, I'll create a category for the game cam, so you'll be able to click and see all the related posts together. But since I'm getting a lot of Google hits on the topic lately, I'll mention again that this is a Cuddeback game camera that we ordered online from "Boss Buck".

"My Run" documentary to be shown in Mankato

Running a marathon isn't an easy task no matter who you are.
There's countless hours of grueling training to endure, leg pains to work through and a race day to drain you of all your energy. Most people (myself included) take time off from running in the days following a marathon to let our joints, muscles and mental fortitude heal.
However, Terry Hitchcock isn't like most people. In 1996, Hitchcock not only kept running after completing a marathon, he actually completed another marathon the very next day. If that wasn't enough, he kept up with this marathon-a-day routine for 75 consecutive days.
26.2 miles a day for 75 days. That's 1,965 miles of racing, slightly more than the distance between Mankato and Mexico City. And Hitchcock, who was 57 years old at the time, kept running despite freezing rain, unbearable heat and stress fractures that developed along the way (I had plenty of physical pain to cope with after Grandma's last summer, so I can only imagine what he went through).
You're probably wondering what would possess a person to do this to themselves. Well, in Hitchcock's case, the feat is meant to be an inspiration to single parents out there struggling to support their families. Hitchcock himself lost his wife to breast cancer in 1984 and then lost his job shortly thereafter. With three young children to raise on his own, Hitchcock needed faith, hard work and mental strength to maintain a healthy environment for his kids.
Hitchcock's story is told in the award-winning documentary "My Run," which will be showing at 7 p.m. tomorrow at the Movies 8 Theater in the River Hills Mall. Narrated by Billy Bob Thorton, "My Run" takes viewers through Hitchcock's personal struggles after his wife's death and the physical hell he put his body through during the "Mega-Marathon."
Cost of the event is $12.50. Tickets can either be purchased here or at the theater. Here is link to Hitchcock's website for more background on his incredible achievement.

Con-Flummoxed...

(note from mom: some of you have asked for pix of Sammie and Avalon, so here are a few of "day in the life...")Back to ME: I'm totally flummoxed by this new thing that seems to dwell here now. But I'm starting to get used to her, even though I make my dominance at this place well-understood heheh!
For instance, she played with this old toy that I didn't particularly care for anymore... except when she decided she liked it.
Yeah... you know your place dear sis! Good job!
You know, you smells really funny.
(Avalon: I can't help it, I'm little and need you to helps me get the odors of a real doggeh like you!)
Here - look at me run real fast!
Uh oh... what's that??? It's new... and pretty scary.
I'll protect ya - it's just a new pail where Momzers puts our... well... you know!!! I thinks I'm doing pretty good, even though I'm flummoxed!!

Back to back centuries

I wonder if the sniper from Saturday is still watching me. Yesterday I went out and put on another 160km+ around the Tweed Valley just to wrap up imperial centuries on consecutive days for the first time ever. My legs initially had some complaints on the flat start through suburbia, but before too long I hit the climb of Tomewin. Intially I struggled with the opening kilometre at 11%, but somehow my legs seemed to respond to the environment. It was almost as if they decided for themselves that this was going to happen. The rest of that climb was a similar story. The conditions on the mountain, the terrain and the surroundings all seemed to give me strength just when I was ready to wilt.


Once the Tomewin climb was completed, I largely coasted through the rest of the day and just enjoyed the scenery. It was an extremely pleasant day, and the Tweed Valley is an extremely pleasant place to ride. Much of the remainder of the day seemed largely uneventful, and any doubts I had over my ability to cover the distance were now replaced with a confidence gained from the way I coasted over Tomewin. All of a sudden it just seemed like I could do this forever if I so chose. Confidence also came from the volume of touring that I had done, and I became aware that this really wasn't all that different.

Another thing that comes from touring is the desire to explore, something that got the better of me near Murwillumbah when I detoured along Old Lismore Road to the south-west of the town. My legs could have done without the climb, but the surroundings compensated. I also maintained my alertness pretty well for the duration, especially considering the finish into a slight headwind. The alertness was needed to cope with one particular moron at Currumbin, but the less said about that idiot the better.
All in all it was a very satisfactory ride, and one through which I've learned a lot. I may relate some of the lessons on this blog later in the week, when I have more time.