At the weekend, we decided to haul out our bikes (and our Dutch courage) and set off to explore. First up was a new route to Waitrose in Chandler's Ford, one that didn't involve a loooooooong uphill slog on the way back. We still have an uphill slog, but it's considerably shorter and more manageable. The route took us along the back of some very pleasant 70s estates and up into the centre of town, and will probably be good for burning up a few calories before reaching Dave's fish n' chip shop. On Sunday, we cycled into Eastleigh; while we discovered another set of local shops -- including a Co-op that's open till 10! -- we also found that the cycle path into the centre of town fetches up at a railway bridge. In my youth, BR provided gates across railway lines so that you didn't have to hoist your bike up and down steep flights of steps, but presumably that would violate all sorts of health and safety issues today -- and result in lawsuits.* So, up and over the bridge we climbed, cursing as we went, and determined to find an easier route back (which we did, via Leigh Road and Woodside Avenue, if you're interested). It's about a 15-minute ride from the arts centre in Eastleigh back home, more than doable of an evening. Result!
* I'm with Mencken on this one: "By protecting people from the consequences of their own stupidity, we populate the world with fools." But, it didn't get me out of doing bus duty at school when on my PGCE course and I doubt it will get Railtrack to install a convenient gate across the tracks.
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