Flatlands here we come.......

chris French said:

Well, SWMBO had her proper job interview today, a panel of 9, 45 minutes
and a bit of grilling by all accounts - but only to be expected I guess
for a hospital consultant post.

Job's in Huntingdon mostly, we'll not be moving until next early next
year though. But as someone who has been known to seek out hills on his
bike it's a bit worrying.....

Yes, I know there are nice pretty undulating bits, and the Fens' have
'big sky's' etc. and I'm sure I'll get to like it but AFAIAC at the
moment it's just the 'Flatlands'..... :-)

Once you get used to the constant 15mph headwind no matter which way
your facing, it will be Ok :-)

Quoted message said:

However, there is the small matter of another baby to get born yet, we
seem to have hardly given it a thought really lately, Helen has been
tired and stressed re work as well as pregnancy, I've used up a few
years supply of round tuits on the house.

Plan is for a home birth, so I guess we out to think about this a bit
really......

Good luck ............. my daughter (3rd year trainee Midwife) is
really into home births and the like !!

Quoted message said:

Well, SWMBO had her proper job interview today, a panel of 9, 45 minutes
and a bit of grilling by all accounts - but only to be expected I guess
for a hospital consultant post.

Job's in Huntingdon mostly, we'll not be moving until next early next
year though. But as someone who has been known to seek out hills on his
bike it's a bit worrying.....

Congrats on SWMBO getting the post.

Nathan was born at Huntingdon hospital. I came down with a *nasty* infection on
the ward... Blood pressure dropped through the floor and all I remember is lots
of alarms going off in the middle of the night and people rushing to put drips
in me. Part of a needle was left in me when being stiched up. Not nice.

The midwives were quite *lovely* though - kept me breastfeeding with lots of
wonderful support when the docs wanted me to stop. Nathan continued to be
breastfed for 18 months. I am forever grateful to those midwives.

Look on the cycling as a new experience to be enjoyed ;-) You can always get
involved in the cyclocross/MTB scene in the muddy WWII bombcraters...

Cheers, helen s

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In message <[email hidden]>,
dirtylitterboxofferingstospammers <[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Well, SWMBO had her proper job interview today, a panel of 9, 45 minutes
and a bit of grilling by all accounts - but only to be expected I guess
for a hospital consultant post.

Job's in Huntingdon mostly, we'll not be moving until next early next
year though. But as someone who has been known to seek out hills on his
bike it's a bit worrying.....

Congrats on SWMBO getting the post.

It's a big relief, the whole job thing has been going on for most of the
year really. Helen finished her Registrar training this year, so there
was no option of not getting another job.

Quoted message said:

Nathan was born at Huntingdon hospital. I came down with a *nasty* infection on
the ward... Blood pressure dropped through the floor and all I remember is lots
of alarms going off in the middle of the night and people rushing to put drips
in me. Part of a needle was left in me when being stiched up. Not nice.

Sounds nasty. We are planning an homebirth this time - as Helen is in
Ogs & Gynae the other consultant at Hinchingbrooke (who of course hardly
know her) now probably think she is a right hippy :-)

Quoted message said:

The midwives were quite *lovely* though - kept me breastfeeding with lots of
wonderful support when the docs wanted me to stop. Nathan continued to be
breastfed for 18 months. I am forever grateful to those midwives.

Thanks good, Helen BF Elinor for about 15 months (and it was difficult
for her at the start as well), many women start and then give up because
of lack of support and general societal pressure against BF.

Quoted message said:

Look on the cycling as a new experience to be enjoyed ;-) You can always get
involved in the cyclocross/MTB scene in the muddy WWII bombcraters...

are these sort of inverse hills then :-)

Elinor is already bit of daredevil. She'll ride her little trike for
miles (well ok a little bit of an exaggeration - but she certainly has
done a mile or two) We were in the local park area, and some kids were
playing on this slope/pile of earth on their MTB's, she was desperate to
go down it.

Eventually much to their amusement I let her go down (with me going down
in front) she doesn't much like me holding on anymore to her, but a kids
trike with no brakes isn't really he thing for steep off road slope....

Of course having done it once was that enough.......?
--
Chris French, Leeds

chris French [email hidden] opined the following...

Quoted message said:

Job's in Huntingdon mostly, we'll not be moving until next early next
year though. But as someone who has been known to seek out hills on his
bike it's a bit worrying.....

It's flat... very flat (Although a little south of Huntingdon there are
some undulations). If you are in or near Huntingdon (Or St Ives), St
Ives CC do sunday club runs (They used to at any rate, I assume they
still do). Relatively fast paced 50miles but with a coffee stop and
always arranged so you come home to a tailwind.

And the winds... you'll get used to them, but you might want to consider
a move to the dark side for aerodynamic reasons! ;-)

It's not that bad. I learned to love road riding in Cambridgeshire and
while I still love the hills, it is quite nice to set a pace and
maintain it regardless.

You also have Grafham Water which (As long as you have reasonably grippy
tyres) makes a nice 10 mile off-road circuit.

Any ideas where you are planning to live yet?

Jon

In message <[email hidden]>, Jon Senior
<jon_AT_restlesslemon_DOTco_DOT_uk@?.?.invalid> writes

Quoted message said:

chris French [email hidden] opined the following...

Quoted message said:

Job's in Huntingdon mostly, we'll not be moving until next early next
year though. But as someone who has been known to seek out hills on his
bike it's a bit worrying.....

<snip.

Quoted message said:

And the winds... you'll get used to them, but you might want to consider
a move to the dark side for aerodynamic reasons! ;-)

well I'd like to anyway, so that sounds like a good excuse :-)

<snip>

Quoted message said:

Any ideas where you are planning to live yet?

Huntingdon or it's environs most likely. Helen has to live (or at least
when on call) within 10 - 15 miles of the hospital, which still gives us
a pretty wide area of course. But also, we want to minimize Helens
travelling time - she has been working part time for most of Elinor's
life. This job for now is going to be full time so she'll find it hard
to be away from E and sprogling so much, as well as the normal baby
tiredness etc. so we want to maximize potential 'family time'.

I'd also like to be near enough to facilities (shops, swimming pool,
library etc.) to be able to cycle to them with the kids easily.

Recommend anywhere :-)
--
Chris French, Leeds

In article <[email hidden]>, newspost-c-002
@familyfrench.co.uk says...

Quoted message said:

Huntingdon or it's environs most likely. Helen has to live (or at least
when on call) within 10 - 15 miles of the hospital, which still gives us
a pretty wide area of course. But also, we want to minimize Helens
travelling time - she has been working part time for most of Elinor's
life. This job for now is going to be full time so she'll find it hard
to be away from E and sprogling so much, as well as the normal baby
tiredness etc. so we want to maximize potential 'family time'.

I'd also like to be near enough to facilities (shops, swimming pool,
library etc.) to be able to cycle to them with the kids easily.

Recommend anywhere :-)

Godmanchester is apparently quite popular at the minute with the NQTs my
mum works with, so I'm guessing prices are reasonable. I'd avoid the
Oxmoor estate in Huntingdon, because I think it still has a reputation.
Other than that... Brampton is a nice village and puts you a short
(cycle-tracked if you prefer) ride from Huntingdon and the school was
pretty good (When I was there). Buckden (Where my folks live) is also
nice, but much more isolated and I had issues with the school ("I don't
wanna talk about... I had issues... OK?"😉. Both of these are well-sited
for access to Hinchingbrooke Hospital as they are on the same side of
town.

I can reach Huntingdon station from Buckden by bike in just under 15
mintes if I have to, and I from memory, the same time would allow a
leisurely cycling from pretty much anywhere in Brampton to the hospital.
And I'd say at most double that for Godmanchester.

Being on a bike puts you at a huge advantage as Huntingdon ring road
(and all connecting roads) gets pretty busy during rush hour.

Other surrounding areas I don't know as well. The Stukeleys (Little &
Great) are reasonable and have a rural feel, but the journey into town
is a little busier (Although it does put you closer to the swimming
pool) and you would have to put up with living near John Major!

If you want cycle-able access to facilities then I'd be wary of
venturing too much further out as the roads (while fine for adults) are
not really good child-riding territory.

But anyway... that's my two cents. I believe Helen might be able to
offer some advice on the area a little further south!

Jon

On Sun, 26 Sep 2004 14:16:06 +0100, Jon Senior
<jon@restlesslemon_DOT_co_DOT_uk.remove> wrote in message
<[email hidden]>:

Quoted message said:

Godmanchester

IRTA Godwinchester and had a nightmare vision of a town where everyone
accuses each other of being Nazis...

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington University

Quoted message said:

Recommend anywhere :-)

Avoid St Neots. Used to be nice, but when the rail line was electrified,
cutting commuting into London to less than an hour, the dregs of east & north
London moved out there. What was a halfway decent little town rapidly went
downhill. I know from personal experience :-(

Cheers, helen s

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Quoted message said:

as Helen is in
Ogs & Gynae the other consultant at Hinchingbrooke (who of course hardly
know her) now probably think she is a right hippy :-)

Is Miss Jennison still there?? Mr Erian??

Quoted message said:

Thanks good, Helen BF Elinor for about 15 months (and it was difficult
for her at the start as well), many women start and then give up because
of lack of support and general societal pressure against BF.

There was a very good NCT network in the area when I had Nathan, complete with
breastfeeding advisors, pumps available to borrow/rent - a *great* ante-natal
teacher who worked within the NHS, so understood that "system" and got people
to work with it rather than against, so helped to build up a good rapport with
the local midwives. The midwives themselves were great.

Quoted message said:

are these sort of inverse hills then :-)

Could be looked upon as that when you cycle in them... I've seen quite a few
have difficulty get out of them when climbing up the other side ;-)

Quoted message said:

Elinor is already bit of daredevil. She'll ride her little trike for
miles (well ok a little bit of an exaggeration - but she certainly has
done a mile or two) We were in the local park area, and some kids were
playing on this slope/pile of earth on their MTB's, she was desperate to
go down it.

As mentioned in another post - Graffham Water has trails you can cycle round.
Plus it's not that far up to the Thetford Forest

Cheers, helen s

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Quoted message said:

It's flat... very flat (Although a little south of Huntingdon there are
some undulations).

We were out at Ely on Saturday. The fens are flat for miles. On the downside,
the wind seems to always be blowing.

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In message <[email hidden]>,
dirtylitterboxofferingstospammers <[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

as Helen is in
Ogs & Gynae the other consultant at Hinchingbrooke (who of course hardly
know her) now probably think she is a right hippy :-)

Is Miss Jennison still there?? Mr Erian??

Pass, no idea of the names of any of the others at the moment

Quoted message said:

--
Chris French, Leeds

dirtylitterboxofferingstospammers [email hidden] opined the
following...

Quoted message said:

We were out at Ely on Saturday. The fens are flat for miles. On the downside,
the wind seems to always be blowing.

From what I remember of my Geography lessons (Generally, very little!)
the fens end about 5 miles north of Huntingdon. Certainly the terrain
becomes noticeably flatter around there!

Most (mentally) tiring ride I ever did was on a club run out there. We
were riding a dead straight road for about 5 miles into a crosswind
(Read: Headwind!). We were riding as a chain gang and were swapping out
the leaders about once every two minutes. The worst part was that the
end didn't seem to be getting any nearer.

Jon

In message <[email hidden]>, Jon Senior
<jon_AT_restlesslemon_DOTco_DOT_uk@?.?.invalid> writes

Quoted message said:

dirtylitterboxofferingstospammers [email hidden] opined the
following...

Quoted message said:

We were out at Ely on Saturday. The fens are flat for miles. On the downside,
the wind seems to always be blowing.

From what I remember of my Geography lessons (Generally, very little!)
the fens end about 5 miles north of Huntingdon. Certainly the terrain
becomes noticeably flatter around there!

Yep, something like that.

I remember taking my first train journey on the ECML from London to
Edinburgh when I was about 20 I'd mostly lived in reasonably hilly
areas, and I remember being stuck by just how flat the eastern side of
the country was.

Quoted message said:

Most (mentally) tiring ride I ever did was on a club run out there. We
were riding a dead straight road for about 5 miles into a crosswind
(Read: Headwind!). We were riding as a chain gang and were swapping out
the leaders about once every two minutes. The worst part was that the
end didn't seem to be getting any nearer.

Touring around Suffolk and Norfolk, Heading (I think) from Ely up to
Hunstanton. Cycling across the fens I could see a sugar beet processing
plant in the distance, it just seemed to move about as the roads turned
but seemed to take for ever to reach it.
--
Chris French, Leeds

Quoted message said:

Touring around Suffolk and Norfolk, Heading (I think) from Ely up to
Hunstanton. Cycling across the fens I could see a sugar beet processing
plant in the distance, it just seemed to move about as the roads turned
but seemed to take for ever to reach it.
--
Chris French, Leeds

Oh yes, the road from Ely up to KL is above the surrounding land and the river
(Great Ouse) is above the level of the surrounding land too - and at high tide,
prob. above level of the road. In places it's a simple earth bank separating
the river from *you*... Much nicer in Norfolk where it's no longer fens and
the countryside & topography is much more interesting.

Cheers, helen s

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On Mon, 27 Sep 2004 23:57:52 +0100, Jon Senior

jon_AT_restlesslemon_DOTco_DOT_uk said:

Most (mentally) tiring ride I ever did was on a club run out there. We
were riding a dead straight road for about 5 miles into a crosswind
(Read: Headwind!). We were riding as a chain gang and were swapping out
the leaders about once every two minutes. The worst part was that the
end didn't seem to be getting any nearer.

I used to do a lot in south Lincs, which is also flat as a pancake.

The wind is always head.

The scenery is always flat.

The roads are always straight (at least around my house).

If you want to just put in the miles without any hassle it's great (and
that's what I was doing at the time, building up fitness) but I'm glad I
now live somewhere with hills and corners.

Frink

--
Doctor J. Frink : 'Rampant Ribald Ringtail'
See his mind here : http://www.cmp.liv.ac.uk/frink/
Annoy his mind here : pjf at cmp dot liv dot ack dot ook
"No sir, I didn't like it!" - Mr Horse

On 28 Sep 2004 05:51:23 GMT, [email hidden]

(dirtylitterboxofferingstospammers) said:

Quoted message said:

Touring around Suffolk and Norfolk, Heading (I think) from Ely up to
Hunstanton. Cycling across the fens I could see a sugar beet processing
plant in the distance, it just seemed to move about as the roads turned
but seemed to take for ever to reach it.
--
Chris French, Leeds

Oh yes, the road from Ely up to KL is above the surrounding land and the river
(Great Ouse) is above the level of the surrounding land too - and at high tide,
prob. above level of the road. In places it's a simple earth bank separating
the river from *you*... Much nicer in Norfolk where it's no longer fens and
the countryside & topography is much more interesting.

I had an old relative who used to live out in the Fens near Bourne
(IIRC). The house was totally isolated and next to a river. The
surface of the river was higher than the roof.

The Fens are a strange place indeed. I do rather like being there
despite (or maybe because) the sheer desolation of the place;
particularly in winter. At times, it can be positively intimidating
and mildly spooky.

Quoted message said:

I had an old relative who used to live out in the Fens near Bourne
(IIRC). The house was totally isolated and next to a river. The
surface of the river was higher than the roof.

You can see quite a few places like that. If I lived out that way I'd want easy
access to a boat on the roof of the house - for emergency use! I've got a video
from the UEA film archive which is about the 1953 floods. It will happen again
sometime.

Cheers, helen s

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dirtylitterboxofferingstospammers [email hidden] opined the
following...

Quoted message said:

You can see quite a few places like that. If I lived out that way I'd want easy
access to a boat on the roof of the house - for emergency use! I've got a video
from the UEA film archive which is about the 1953 floods. It will happen again
sometime.

Given the regularity with which new estates are built on the flood
plains it comes as no great surprise. A significant proportion of St
Ives floods on a yearly basis.

Comedy placename candidate: Ramsey Heights. It's actually directly on
the 0 metres contour line!

Jon

On 29/9/04 12:19 am, in article [email hidden],

Jon Senior' jon_AT_restlesslemon_DOTco_DOT_uk said:

Comedy placename candidate: Ramsey Heights. It's actually directly on
the 0 metres contour line!

But that is higher than the surrounding land?

...d