New Year's Day Ride 2015

I started by cycling to the town centre where I saw this nice Boardman fixie!

The "Blue Leanie" - a well-known
office block in the town centre

view down Walton Street

Next to the new-ish theatre (it has been open for a bit more 4 years), a new University campus is under construction.

The very end of the Aylesbury Arm (a spur from the
Grand Union Canal, the canal that connects London
and Birmingham)

The canal continued working until the 1960's, apparently!

The back of the new campus, shown with the back of the
theatre and the waterside motel. New canal boat moorings
are under construction to attract more visitors to the area.
I'm sure it will be "picture postcard" lovely when it is finished!

A short way after the new building work,
the canal path gets rather muddy.

When going along a towpath, there are
long flat bits interspersed with little
climbs at the locks. Looks like someone
has left a gate open on this one!

The path improves somewhat at Broughton Crossing, which also has a car park - presumably how the canoeist got here!

A few sections of ice are still in the canal.

That muddy blob is my front derailleur!
The path quickly deteriorated after Broughton Crossing.
Good job I oiled the chain before setting out!

A few times the wheels go so jammed with mud and reeds that I had to stop and clear them.
When I got off and pushed, neither wheel turned - they just slid along on the mud.

The path is still very bad - I'm turning off at the next bridge ...

... where a nice new path led to ...

... the new Arla dairy - apparently the largest fresh milk dairy (whatever that means!) in the world.

Not much fancying cycling down the rather busy A41 dual-carriageway back to Aylesbury, I followed a Public Footpath route instead. Problem is that Mermaid won't fit through the "pedestrian" gate, so I lifted the bike over the fence, then walked through the small gate (not shown, but it is on the right of the picture!).
Then I think I must have got a bit lost, as I had to climb over another locked gate (bike and all), but that took me back to the "old" A41 that I was aiming for.

Then down the "old" A41 to the roundabout where it joins the "new" A41.
Looks like I'm not the only cyclist out today!

A lot more civilised - a tarmac route near to the flood protection measures behind the Broughton Avenue area

Then up and over the bridge - this is a view of the new canal boat Marina at Stocklake - I suspect that those are rather overpriced flats (apartments) being constructed behind the Marina - a view of a bit of water sure puts the price up 'round here!

Then up to the old church in Bierton. Technically, this is "my" parish, so I can be buried in the churchyard (the new bit is round the back, out of site in this view).
This is the church of St James the Great, and actually is fairly new for English churches as it only dates back to the 14th Century!
My daughter went to the school in the street beyond the church, and the vicar of this church is also, automatically, the school's priest! It is currently the very capable Rev. Mark Ackford.

With the churchyard to the right, the white building on the left of the road is the Red Lion, an inn which dates to the 16 Century. It (and the village of Bieton as a whole) was popular in the English Civil War with the Royalists (the King's Supporters!), as opposed to the main town of Aylesbury only a couple of miles away, which supported the Parliamentarians (Oliver Cromwell et. al.)

My route for the day - into the town centre, then along the can path, then off at the Arla turnoff, then a bit of a hike through the fields, then the "old" A41 to the edge of town, then the quiet path behind Northfield Road, then up to Bierton, then home for a cuppa!