Bartimaeus

When we arrived at our chosen mooring, perfectly placed just beyond the 2 day mooring stretch, we were right next to another Lord of The Rings themed boat which was in the short stay spot. On the other side were some permanent moorings. If we are leaving the boat for a bit, it feels good not to be too isolated.

Not far away we had passed a mooring for a trip boat, labelled E.T. 2, but the boat wasn't there. I envisaged an alien decorating the side, rather like the one we had seen called Muddy Waters.

However, when the trip boat appeared and drove past our mooring, I could see that E.T. stood for Ernest Thomas, not Extra Terrestrial. In the morning Frodo's Dream had gone. 

We had a plan to go cycling but before we set off I shared with Shane a Danish video I had found of an obstacle course built above water for cyclists, but while it might been easy for a solo cyclist, it was being done on tandems. To make it even harder the cyclists were in fancy dress and the tandems were decorated and often surrounded by cardboard boxes made to look like a car, batmobile, canoe or rocket. A small wobble, going over the bump or seesaw, was soon amplified and resulted in the tandem and riders falling over the edge of the narrow route and plunging into the deep water below. It was fun to watch and one team did get to the end of the course intact.

When we set off the narrow towpath seemed quite a challenge. I wonder how we would fare on such an obstacle course, since we have been riding tandem for a very long time and Shane does not choose smooth surfaces nor avoid steep ramps and hairpins. We only really get off for gates, stiles and some, but not all, fords.

We passed Frodo's Dream again and waved to Ernest Thomas, as we rode along. I saw a blue boat called Still Waters and I was confused as to why it was going in that direction as I thought Still Waters was moored opposite us. I got my phone out to look for the photo to check. Shane asked what I was up to as the steering had just got harder. He felt it much better when my hands were back on the handle bars, but I did find the picture of the boat moored opposite. It was red, not blue and  the names differed by a hyphen. Stillwaters, would soon be passed by Still-waters.

We passed boats queuing at locks. One very smart new looking boat was named In Cognito and the one beyond was all blue  with no pictures or name painted on the side... different and yet the same thing.

We came off the towpath and arrived at the cafe, called The Platform, just off the cycle path (an old railway), made from, surprise surprise, an old railway platform. Shane had spotted it before but it hadn't been open last time we passed. We arrived at the late morning time when breakfast were still being served (till noon) but so were brunch and lunch. Shane chose a vegan breakfast and I went to order. When I said 'a vegan breakfast', the server replied "vegan breakfast or vegan brunch". I didn't know they had two such similar items. I went to check with Shane and when he looked at the menu, while the name was almost the same the contents were quite different and he decided to change his order and add eggs.

Our drinks arrived promptly but when a woman approached our table, the number we had wasn't matching her order number, but the meals she had were the same as our order - a vegan brunch and a fish finger sandwich. She went back in to check in case there was another order of exactly the same thing.  She soon returned, no idea what the mix up was but we didn't have a long wait and both were delicious. We can definitely recommend.

As we left the car park I saw a car that looked different. I am not in any way knowledgeable about cars but what I noticed was that cars don't usually have umbrellas, it was in stead of a roof. We were expecting rain later but hoped to be back by then. 

The next thing for which I asked to stop, was an amazing display of art on an old bridge. It certainly wasn't your usual grafitti. They were by a known artist who covers large spaces. Like Van Gogh's faces the multicoloured stripes worked together to make a coherent whole. 

At the next bridge the same artist was displaying a wider range of animals.

Not much further and another bridge, another gallery, it was almost the same thing again, in technique, but this time some recognisable faces.

Shane had a route plan that had no roads and made use of the railway path and towpath, both former key transport systems, now both used for leisure. There was another ex railway platform made into a cafe called Cupcake. We had found this one years ago with Paul, while looking for a transport heritage centre, but then, as now, both were shut. It was just as well we had found the other cafe. The transport heritage centre is free entry, but only open on Saturdays, so we may have to do this same route again, but it won't be this Saturday. 

As we returned to the canal I recognised the statue we had seen with Bryn before seeing Bryn off home last year. The locks are closed here and have been for months so we can only experience these this time by bike or on foot.

It is something of a surprise that the artist doing so many dog portraits (I have not included all of them) had a fox and no wolf. Maybe he was choosing different subjects not the same old Wolverhampton thing. 

The absence of real wolves, might help this real life animal be more relaxed in its surroundings. It felt safe enough with us on the either side of the canal. But then it wasn't exactly living in the wilds. The trees were hung with fairy lights. That might be another place we can visit.

Back on the towpath we passed Ernest Thomas again and were recognised. The driver asked if we were going round in circles. It was a figure of eight in fact but with long thin loops.

Back at the boat Shane asked me to get the bunch of Allen keys from his tool box under the steps as he wanted to adjust the eccentric he had worked on recently. I brought the bunch but the very one he wanted was detached and absent so I went back in and scrabbled in the same place for other Allen keys and came back with three more and one was a match. It was a small one to fit in a tight space. He said he also needed a hammer and spike... neither usually in your cycling kit and no cyclist would want to carry them around but he had tried and tested this technique before and was going to do the same thing again. A sledge hammer and nut seemed better matched to be honest.

We took the tandem apart and carried it in on board and then the rain started. That was excellent timing and if we get the chance I would happily do the same thing again, but the next day has an awful lot of rain in it, so not straight away or we would be about as wet as the tandemists in the video.