or is that forward to the past?

September - 2/3rds of 2021 have already passed us by and it still feels like life is on hold, that I'm going through the motions but not getting anywhere. Okay, I have lost about 5kg but my 'grand' business plans haven't advanced, my writing has been stalled for months at a time and i'm still crap with eyeliner! Maybe the remainder of the year will be more productive, I need to take a more positive approach to things, make things happen rather than just hope they will.

So what have I been up to the second part of the week? Well Thursday was my first bike ride of the new month, for reasons best known to someone that isn't me, I set off under grey skies for a ride on the Somerset Levels. It was never going to be a short day but for once I adjusted my route to avoid much climbing action after lunch, spending the morning climbing across the Mendip before twiddling past Glastonbury to my lunch stop just outside Street.

By now it was brighter but the north easterly breeze was a constant, cooling my portion of fried potato quite rapidly. Food consumed I started the afternoon perambulation which started with a zig zagging route that crossed the Avalon Levels no less than 6 times on a variety of 'droves' from wide and well surfaced to barely a road balanced on the top of a dyke. I had planned a further pair but time and some fatigue meant a slight deviation to plans and I started the long haul Brizzlward.

I stopped for a second food halt at Mark before continuing on across levels towards the notch in the Mendip that the M5 passes through, handily there's a lane too which doesn't involve much up. Then it was more flat riding most of the way back to Cabotville where I finished the ride with a mere 1000m of up and 171km of length. And that wind - well i was quite fatigued to say the least!

Friday was a day of recovery, best part of nine hours out in the Somerset wilds takes its toll!

And so to Saturday, the forecast was warmer and brighter and with a more easterly take on the wind i set off for the Wessex Downs with Avebury my target for lunch. It might not be mountainous but there are a few more challenging climbs as you cross the folds wherein sit Lyneham and a few miles further on, the climb onto the chalk uplands. I didn't tackle the last climb up to the Ridgeway - thats for another day, instead following the A road down to Avebury.

You can't beat lunch at an historic site, Avebury is both much larger than its more famous cousin to the south and more accessible, I found a perch on the outer bank, perhaps as our ancestors did to view what was going on inside the henge. There's weird stuff happening there, mobile phones don't work for instance and a cup of tea is more than £2! I had my sandwiches and perused my Ordnance Survey to get the afternoon route sorted then set off into the warm afternoon.

If the morning had some climbing challenges, the afternoon was more rolling but involved a bit of bridleway/cycle route which wasn't always a pleasure to follow. Across to Calne then a loopy route to Chippenham and on past Corsham to return via Bath and the bike path. 'Only' 150km but 1100m plus of up and without suffering as much fatigue as Thursday, the wind actually being helpful for much of the return effort.

Today of course is another day of comparative rest, laundry, cut the grass, some food cropping and garden maintenance - i'll have a bit of a walk this afternoon before cooking dinner, everything except the meat on the plate will be home grown, green beans, carrots and potatoes.

Todays reading matter is chapter 20 of Ontario, Fully Fashioned. The fashion show in the Basilica in Trier - need i say more?

That just about wraps things up for today,
Tschussie,
Madeline Anafrid