Saturday Morning Bike Ride

No route planned, I free wheel down the hill to join the cycle path...

...and to admire the flowering hawthorn which lines the cycle path (a disused railway line). Not as spectacular a display as it can be, due to a rather over enthusiastic (so I think!) pruning session earlier in the year.

Green fields, solitary tree and a sky criss-crossed with pylon lines.

Past the castle, pink campion and hawthron flowering together in the foreground.

A little pause on this bridge over a deep gorge for a bike shot. Fairly soon after this I leavethe cycle path and join the network of unclassified roads.

Bird on a wire.

This weeks cow photo, and rather lovely cows they are too in gorgeous shades of toffee and caramel. The hawthorn hedge is a little high for a perfect view.

And then it starts to rain, so some of the following photos look a little blurry!

Hills and hawthorn.

A tempting lane lined with cow parsley but I'll go this way another time, I take the road to the right. The rain gets heavier and I get rather wet. I decide to opt for a more direct route home but with a little detour through woodland to avoid some of the rain. It's a wood I've been to before and have tended to follow the same paths through it. I now realise I've been going the wrong way...

...here, finally, are the bluebells I've been looking for the last few weeks.

All the better for being unexpected. Next year I'll try and catch them at their peak.

Carrying on along this new path I climb a steep hill and come across what would be (if it weren't raining!) a lovely view over the surrounding countryside. A great spot for a picnic methinks (in nicer weather, of course!)

Horses, too busy munching the grass to say hello.

Dog roses in bloom.

The (wet) track back to join the cycle path and a quick cycle home to dry off. Scone baking weather - I do make some later that afternoon, but they're for eating not photographing!