There is a choice of viewing today. Over on the BBC it is going to be a mostly dull day with a few sunny spells late in the afternoon. There will be a small chance of some drizzle this morning, but the temperature will climb to 15° C. Over on the Met Office the day will be rather different. The grey cloud that is making it gloomy right now will suddenly lift (yeah, sure) and we'll end up with a day similar to yesterday - a mixture of sunshine and sunny spells (according to the latest revision). It will probably only reach 14° C in the Met Office universe. I have a pessimistic feeling the mostly dull day forecast by the BBC may be the more accurate forecast today.

  I was first excited about the possibility of yesterday's weather, then I was excited about how the weather was developing to match the forecast, and finally I was excited that the sun was out, and the temperature had reached 14° C. I couldn't really resist going out for a walk under those conditions. With the temperature just reaching the barrier between tepid and warm, and then augmented by the sunshine, it was definitely no coat, t-shirt weather.

  I was too impatient to go out because it was just before the sun would get partly hidden by clouds again. It was only thin cloud, and so it was still bright - often bright enough to cast a dull hazy shadow. I still felt perfectly comfortable temperature wise, but in other respects I was uncomfortable. My legs seemed a bit stiffer than I would like, and I was getting a lot of discomfort from behind my right knee. I had never felt that before. Getting some light pain from the knee joint itself is nothing new these days, but this pain from behind the knee was something different. It was like an inflamed tendon or something.

  The stupid thing is that I think the sun went to my head. Despite the pain and general creakiness, I found I wanted to push myself to go further and further. It could have been a stupid idea because the further I go, the further I have to go to get back home again. My final destination was probably an old idea. It could have dated back to when I was walking some long distances last summer, or I could have thought of it the previous night. It was simply an extension of a well trodden route.

  That final destination was Kent House station. I had been there before, but if I recall correctly it was before the ban on using trains without a face mask, and I had cheated by getting the train to New Beckenham station so I could walk the entire southern end of the Waterlink Way. Yesterday there was no cheating. I walked all the way there, and all the way back.

  Until I checked, I didn't realise that yesterday was the longest walk I have done in years. I thought my walks to Blackheath last summer were the longest, but the longest one was only 6.5 miles. Yesterday I walked 6.8 miles ! I have to admit it was very tiring. The silly thing is that I have been moaning that 3 mile walks have seen tiring because I was so out of condition recently. Evidently I am less out of condition than I thought. Maybe this bodes well for some even longer walks in the summer. It was 10th July 2012 when I built up to my all time record of 10.35 miles from Epping to Ongar. I wonder if I can beat that ?
  I note that the picnic table that was installed last Autumn in the Linear Park is getting a lot of use now. I have seen it used in rain and snow, but on sunny days I can imagine having to get to it early in the morning if you want to grab it.
  The flowers I saw the previous time I was here had nothing to do with Rhododendrons, but I have had confirmed that these are Rhododendrons with their new buds looking like they are almost ready to do something - presumably flower, but these don't look like flower buds. The truth will be revealed on subsequent visits.
  I was using my Canon EOS 300D DSLR camera with my 300mm zoom lens to take this picture. It is the view north from the public footbridge at Lower Sydenham station. The 300D is quite a low resolution camera (8M pixels maybe), but being able to control the shutter speed, aperture and ISO speed, makes it more versatile than my Nikon P500 bridge camera. It is heavier though, and I have to carry a wide angle lens as well as the zoom lens, but there are times when it is worth it.
  I was on that public footbridge at just the right time to turn around, to look south, and once again using full zoom, and snap this train just about to call at New Beckenham station. It is not really apparent when you are standing on the station, but it is odd how the track bends to the right between the platform faces.
  Everywhere I go I now see the signs of spring. These daffodils are on the river bank of the River Pool as it flows beside the path linking the end of Kangley Bridge Road to Lennard Road (opposite the entrance to Cator Park).
  This was the point when I started to extend my walk past the familiar. I have walked through Cator Park before, but I don't think I have walked to it before.
  This is the view to the north across the clearest part of Cator Park. Behind me are some stands of trees that would obscure any long view. The white building in the distance is across the other side of Lennard Road - the road that forms the northern border of the park.
  The most distant part of my walk - Kent House station. If I had gone through the tunnel I could have taken a better picture because the other side was in the sun. This shot is taken facing the sun.
  This is The Chaffinch Brook. About where it fades from view behind some vegetation it is joined by The Beck. It leaves the park in a culvert under Lennard Road, and emerges on the other side as The River Pool. It is a shame it is hidden by ugly railings, and goes through an ugly concrete channel. It would be such an asset to the park if it was allowed to flow free.
  The Beck - presumably the origin of the name Beckenham. It too flows through an ugly concrete channel, and is bordered by brambles and other thick vegetation.
  This picture is really only to say I was here too. The only difference that this picture has compared to others of the same sign I have taken in the past, is that I took this picture from the other side of the road.
  Another picture just to say I was here as well. I have a future walk half worked out that could feature 6 or 7 station signs, and be possibly shorter than yesterday's 6.8 miles.
  This group of three people, walking three abreast, annoyed me. They probably annoyed many cyclists too. Apart from using most of the width of the path, they tended to walk on the right of the path like foreigners. Cyclists, like me, tend to follow the rules of the road and stay to the left. (I realise than on roads with now footpaths, such as country lanes, the rule is to walk on the right, facing oncoming traffic, but this is primarily a foot path, and has no bushes and bends to obscure the path ahead). When trying to keep 2 metres distant from people, idiots like this don't help (and they were walking slower than me after I had walked 5 miles !).

  I have to admit it was good to get home again. I was feeling very tired, but not really on my last legs. My feet were complaining, and my legs were tired (and I was still getting that sort of stretched tendon pain behind my right knee), but I feel I could have pushed myself a bit further still. On the other hand, it did feel like hard work walking upstairs, and bit of me didn't want to bend when I went to take off my boots and jeans.

  All I had eaten before going out was two conference pears and a chunk of cheese. I was feeling rather hungry when I got in, and I ate two packets of chilli flavour giant Hoola Hoops. I transferred all my pictures to my PC, but I laid down amd ended up having a short snooze before I started "developing" them (actually just some mild cropping, some exposure corrections, and maybe a bit of straightening up before scaling to fit on the page.

  Later on I was hungry, but felt in control. I opted to eat no more than some grilled sausages, although I did put a splash of low sugar/salt ketchup on them - but not much because my bottle ran out. By my reckoning I hadn't eaten so little for quite some time. It was enough to quench my hunger though, and I neither felt hungry or stuffed when I went to bed a few hours later.

  I read in bed for a bit, and I have no idea when I turned out the light to go to sleep. It am sure it was before 10pm, and probably closer to 9pm. I think it was another of those "I can't seem to get to sle...Zzzzzzzzzzz !" nights. There were two dreams that seem to partly stick in my memory. One was very short, or the bit I remember was. In this dream I was drinking some nice beer from a can (probably poured into a glass). It was the label, on the can that was so remarkable. It had a very nautical flavour, and must have been produced by a very talented artist. Around the can were various nautical items - mostly ships. They were essentially line drawings, and the lines were like they were cutting through the paint to reveal the shiny tin underneath That was the case with all the writing too. One amazing thing is that the sequence was seamless - you couldn't see a start or end as you rotated the can.

  One scene on that can was of a naval battle from the days of wooden ships. They were on fire, and there was plenty of smoke as well as fire, The smoke was carefully drawn so it formed an image of a typical bearded captain type of seafarer. There were other wonderful details that I have forgotten. The can became far more interesting than the beer itself. I think that dream could be put in a category of nice stuff.

  Another dream was very, very weird, but I can only remember a 1 second snapshot of it, and so there may have been an explanation I have forgotten. I was with some friends in a band, and while they were relaxing, all squashed in on one sofa, I seemed to be acting almost like a bouncer, or maybe go between, or something. Three young Japanese looking girls approached and wanted to me the band. Suddenly we realised that they weren't girls at all, but transvestite young Japanese boys. It was all very weird, but it was only that one second instant in time that I can remember. Maybe there was some reason for it that I can't remember.

  I guess I had enough sleep last because I seemed to be ready to get up slightly before 6am this morning. One of my leg muscles seemed to feel a bit sure before I got out of bed, but once I was on my feet, and walking to the toilet, I think it was the absence of any great discomfort that was most surprising. That is not to say I couldn't feel some effect from that long walk, but the worst thing was slightly sore feet.

  The most disappointing thing was my blood glucose level. After a 6 mile walk, and thinking I hadn't eaten much, I had hoped it would have gone down a lot, but it hasn't. It has come down to 8.7mmol/l, and at least that is just on the right side of sanity, but I want to get it down to below 8, and maybe even below 7 when I have done some good exercise. It won't be happening today though because this afternoon is another boozing session !