This past couple of weeks has been a bit busy - we decided to adopt an 8 week old Beagle pup from the No More Tears adoption site, and had to drive to Fishguard in Wales to get him.

We have named him Bosley (from Charlies Angels) and he is gorgeous, but its like having a baby in the house.

So I have to pick my moments to go cycling inbetween puppy sitting.

I decided to ride to Spetisbury and ride the old railway track.

This ride is really easy and most cyclists could tackle it.

On an overcast Sunday Andy and I head out to Upton House, joining the woodland trail via the double bridges on Blandford Road.

A lovely ride up past the pond and colourful rhododendrons and past upton house and down the drive, under the Upton bypass and onto the roman road/Castleman trail.

The Castleman trail is the old railway line that winds its way up past Broadstone to the Willet Arms at Wimbourne (it goes all the way to Ashley heath but will do that ride another day!).

At the Willet Arms we cross the road and over the A31 and turn left onto the old Stour Valley way.

At this point it started to rain but as its warm and we are wearing decent cycling gear it feels ok. In fact it feels pretty good cycling in the rain.

At the end of the old stour valley we turn towards Wimborne and over Julian's bridge.

Up to the roundabout and turn left towards the hospital and left again onto Cowgrove Road a quiet country lane which is part of the national cycle network. Heading down Cowgrove Road past thatched cottages and Barford farm which makes and sells icecream - but as the rain is dripping off our faces we give it a miss, onto White Mill an 18th century watermill.

Turning right onto Mill Lane leading to Shapwick and onto Spetisbury turning right at the cross, and over Crawford Bridge and the River Stour with a whiteness of swans - being careful we cross the A350 and turn right onto the old railway line which goes all the way to Blandford St Mary past all the old platforms and bridges - wonderful.

And at the end we turn round and retrace the route back via Wimborne with the added delight of following a buzzard down the Castleman trail.

Just under 36 miles but as it's relatively flat it does not feel that far even in the rain.

What with this weather we have been having when we do get a good evening, what would you rather do - sit at home and watch TV or cycle round Holes Bay in the evening sun? It’s a no brainer for me, and you feel really good afterwards.

I do plan some of my rides just by looking at my maps, but for most of my cross country routes I use a book by Colin Dennis called Mountain Bike Guide Dorset.

You do need the ordanance survey maps to go with it but it’s a really good book for planning your rides, and has taken me round most of Dorset.

At the moment I have just been writing about how good cycling is, which makes me feel so great. I just love mtb and how it has shown me the real Dorset. In time I will start to blog about my views on how we can make cycling safer for all.

Happy cycling!