A very British Blip!

I have made a contract with myself for the last few Olympic days. If I get out and do some exercise at some point in a day then I can veg out on the sofa of an evening and soak up the sport. An added bonus is that the weather forecast for the next few days is good so it was on the bike and down the hill to the canal this morning with the idea of going to Skipton and back. However since semi retirement the journey has become more important than the target so I had several stops on the way. For example, I stopped off at the Five Rise Cafe for water and spotted an elderly neighbour I haven't seen for several years since she had moved. I had heard along the grapevine that her husband, a gentle, lovely man, had passed away earlier this year. Hand on heart I have to admit that in recent years I would have avoided stopping because 'time was short' and I had 'a goal to achieve'. How sad is that?! The new me stopped and I was able to offer my condolences and catch up on family news. I now know where she lives, close to the canal, so I will call in when I'm next passing.

There were lots of people out and about on or close to the canal, and I had several chats including cycling for a while with a lady on a road bike on the sustrans alternative trail which avoids the horribly rutted towpath near Silsden. It was approaching lunchtime so I decided that if the food van was in the lay-by at the Cononley junction then I would stop and turn there. I enjoyed another chat and a fine ham salad sandwich and cup of tea with the van owner. I remarked that he might get lots of passing trade from the narrowboats today and he told me that a licence to put an A board on the towpath would cost him £2000 per year! Shouldn't we be encouraging local business?

En route to the food van I was taking a blip of the canal bend with the hills in the background when these cyclists and the narrow boat hove into the view. I'm going with this blip because I thought there were several very British elements: the flags, the view, the mum and daughter enjoying a ride together (we'd had several chats as we passed and re passed each other as I stopped to blip), the Two Jills (look LARGE) which reminded me of those sun visors on cars announcing their owners, the matching sun hats and the men at the business end of the boat!