A long bike ride - 11.5 miles - with Mary

Woke up early this morning with Tom telling me that Reading had faltered against Doncaster Rovers last night and that they had drawn the match 1-1.  This means that Reading have moved into the no. 2 promotion spot two points behind Southampton but now with no game in hand.  West Ham are now in third spot but with a game in hand.  It is becoming more and more certain that this is going to be a three-horse race for the two automatic promotion places - Saints, Royal and the Hammers.  At the moment Southampton are in pole position with two clear points and a massive better goal difference.  They must just keep their nerve.  Another news item was most tragic.  22 Belgian children (aged 12) have been killed when their coach smashed into the wall of a road tunnel in Switzerland today.  The total death toll was 28 about of 52 passengers on the bus.  The cause of the accident isn't known at this moment but as with most accidents like this more will be revealed later.  I went over and collected my new bicycle this morning from Halfords and also cleared out some of the rubbish from the side of the house including Tom's old bunk bed, some old cupboards and other junk.  I took these to the household recycling tip at Amesbury. There will be another load tomorrow probably. I then drove over to Andover to pick up some items which Sara had ordered from Asda.  Unfortunately, I didn't pick up one item from the order and will need to do that too tomorrow.  Later this afternoon Mary and I went out on our bicycles and did the 11.5 miles circuit - Winterslow - East Grimstead - West Dean - Winterslow. I was delighted with the new bike and was able to cycle all the way up Weston Lane Hill and was also to take hills on the route which previously had meant I had had to get off and walk.  Fantastic!  I an really looking forward to doing a lot more cycling to increase my fitness and get my weight down again.