Having languished in inactivity for the best part of a decade it was clear that I would have to give my 18 speed bike a little tender loving care to get it back to anything like road worthy.

My rusty stead

With some oiling in the right places, the bike that is, a wipe over with a cloth and inflating the tyres to the correct pressure, I was pleasantly surprised that I was ready to sally forth!

My objective was simple – to test out the machine and return in one piece, both me and the bike.

It was a very pleasant, sunny, 20°C, with a little wind kind of day. I wanted a fairly flat route on my first trip out. Don’t want to damage the bike or myself come to think of it! So I decided upon a 12 mile there and back route that would take me through a nature reserve and then on to a canal path.

That should do the trick I thought😊

Check List: – Backpack, Water, Camera, Sunglasses, Insect Repellent, Phone.

Off we go then…..

I had with me a newly acquired Leica R5 with a Tamron 70-150mm f3.5 which also had a handy macro function, demonstrated below

Three growing Cygnets. When do Cygnets become Swans?

What a great time out. Both I and the bike responded well to the challenge. Why have I not done this earlier?

Could this Biker with a Leica be the start of something????