Triathlon Day

After the cool temperatures of yesterday it was somewhat of a surprise to open the door of the cabin this morning, at 7.30am, to feel the air warm on the skin, not a breath of wind coming off the sea. I had breakfast sitting shirtless at our picnic table. There are probably not too many days in the year when that's possible here.

E and I set off on a bike ride to explore the Northumberland countryside, stopping at Rothbury (a hidden gem of a town) and Alnwick (less hidden but even more of a gem) for a 42 mile route, mostly on quiet and quite hilly roads. Before heading back we duly made a pilgrimage to Barter Books to browse and enjoy a well-earned pot of tea and a huge slice of carrot cake.

Once back, E wanted to go for a swim and me for a run, to explore the coast path. I ended up faffing around for a while and only caught her up at the beach, at which point, with no one around and the sea calm, I was tempted in to join her. She'd not stopped talking about how wonderful it had been the evening before. She was right that it wasn't too cold, even though the day had clouded over. I'm not naturally at home in the water but I have to admit that I rather enjoyed it. Mind you, once out, I had to run a good few miles to properly warm up again. Knowing that E was waiting to walk into Alnmouth to eat, I had to turn around at the point this shot was taken, so as not to get into too much trouble. Naturally, I'd already gone further than intended. The coast path just keeps drawing you on, especially with castles dotted along the way.