Still no cleaning and tidying.

So yesterday there was very little wind and it seemed like a good idea to take my bike out in the morning and then I'd be home in plenty of time to clean and tidy the house. I haven't cycled anything except my usual commute since August of last year, when I decided that I was going to cycle regularly and subsequently didn't. I thought 25 to 30 miles would be plenty - more than plenty. I put together a route in my head which would take me along back roads to Haddington, from where I could enjoy a long sweep down to Aberlady - maybe check out the cafe at Archerfields, and then make my way home along the coast.

Shockingly, Buchanan played hooky and came too.

Despite having had it for over a year now my roadish bike is new - and I'm still not that sure of it - so I was being a bit cautious - braking on the downhills, that kind of thing, which produced scornful tirades from Buchanan. You see the thing is I'm used to big fat tyres on a mountain bike so I still don't know what I can get away with on a thin-wheeled bike. I didn't pay any attention anyway.

When we got to Haddington, (after a few navigational zigs and zags) it was easier to keep going than to get the map out my rucksack, so we overshot the road to Aberlady by some distance. In fact we ended up in East Linton. By now I knew I was in for more than my 30 miles! But there was nothing to be done. And the truth is it wasn't too bad. Pedalling just doesn't hurt like running does - and my bike is light and we were enjoying ourselves.

We found our way back on B roads and stopped in North Berwick to refuel.

We went to the Steampunk Cafe which we'd heard good things about. And it was alright. But my it is pricey. We tried not to squish our faces up as we paid more than £20 for a couple of snacks and a cup of tea. (You could get a whole Indian meal for two for that!) Peter had soup and a grilled cheese sandwich. I went for a grilled cheese sandwich and a side salad. The grilled cheese sandwich was greasy with butter, which was enjoyable to eat, but kind of heavy. And my salad had nothing green in it - in fact it seemed to pearl barley in oil. It was okay. I like simple things to eat and there was some kind of sweet and savoury garlicky garnish on both the sandwich and my salad.

The worst thing was that after all that grease and oil my pudding tummy was still empty so I had to break a tenner to get two pieces of cake. The sugary icing hit the spot. But two pieces of cake were more than a fiver. I know how I sound! But me and P have been too poor, too often for too long to not notice high prices. And the menu was kind of choiceless and weird. Sorry Steampunk cafe.

Here he comes. But please note, I am ahead of him.

So in the end it was a 58 mile day. Nothing to regular cyclists but more than I've done in a year or two...or probably a decade...or more!

The tragedy of it was that when I got home I was too tired to do any housework.