or is that first?

I get confused enough with all the Spring forward, Fall back - it could just as easily be Spring back Fall forward right? And not only that, what exactly is Fall? In ye olde Englandshire we have no such season, its Autumn so the unclear ditty doesn't work anyhow.

So what's been happening in the world of Madeline Anafrid I don't hear you ask. Well I had planned on a decent bike ride on Thursday but I woke up unenthused which delayed my start for a watered down version of what I'd untended. Out through Bath once again but then through the tunnels before turning towards my destination of Bradford on Avon. There were a couple of intense ascents on the way and a brief shower but i reached the canal basin and set to on my lunch with just 20 miles on the tab.

This would turn out to be a mistake, an planning error if you like. Anyhow i decided on a loop up to Corsham before running back to Brizzle which is when i got, well not carried away exactly but mayhap a little too enthused. So no following the A4 back, or the Chippenham road when I reached it, I crossed the Malmesbury option, Tetbury and only when I reached the A46 did I alter course towards Cabotville. By the time I stopped there were just over 100km recorded and I was regretting that early lunch stop, but hey ho, i did stay mostly dry.

Friday, after the chores, was a walk day - nothing too strenuous just a quick loop to stretch the legs. We'd earlier planted some veg seeds so I was in 'garden' mode which led to an hour or so of wall painting on my return - it might be spring but i got quite cold and there are more sessions required before the job is done.

Which leads us to 'big ride Saturday'. At the start of the month i signed up for a Century challenge, three stages, Imperial half, ie 80km, Metric 100km and full imperial of 160km, the first two had been fairly easy but through the month I've never felt up to the big one. With time running out i thought yesterday would be my last real chance to complete it, so I set out with a longer route in mind with a chip stop at Weston mid way. The wind was a south westerly which meant a hard ride over the Mendip to Wells - great view down to Glasto. It wasn't any easier as I headed west for the coast, although the wind down over the levels was less it still nagged until Brent Knoll where the direction put it on my shoulder for the run into Weston.

Tea'd and chip'd and with 80km already in the can, I set off once more but whilst a decent run it was looking like I'd miss the century not through fatigue but by lack of road between me and Bev's Villa. By the time I crossed the Avonmouth bridge I was still lacking nearly 30 kilometres, by the city it was more like twenty but by now I was obsessed with getting the century! Well I ended up with 163km after a trip along the Avon and a wide loop around east Brizzle, getting caught in a cloud burst in the last ten minutes for my troubles.

So job done, tired but not exhausted, I guess I'm fitter than I thought despite a lighter programme since New Year or maybe the Covid vaccine is an uber doper!

For the first day of 'summer time' today feels quite cool, strong winds keeping things at least feeling like single figures. To brighten the day you can read the penultimate part of Avoidance, Jury's Out. There's more waiting, a bit of confusion even, but eventually the two teams can start the journey back to Germany, heads held high.

Whilst we're still talking Gaby - the new book, On The Edge, is a record breaker! Yep, in the month since its release over 190 Kindle copies have been purchased, the most of any of my books on release (some haven't got close to that in over 6 years!) so I thank everyone who has cointributed to that.

So that's about it for today, after a light lunch I'll have a short stroll to the shops after which I may well indulge in a little model making - there's a windmill demanding to be put back in sail!

So its wiedersehn for now, I'll be back on the 31st,
Madeline Anafrid