Yep, a full three quarters of 2022 are behind us, a regular roller coaster of a year.

Where did it go?, I don't seem to have done very much it has to be said and whilst some of that is related to my financial situation, other stuff like broken bikes and a high degree of lethargy has contributed too. I've only done a couple of short trips and compared to the last couple of years, even the distances / destinations of my day rides has been very conservative. I know it doesn't have to be this way and its largely down to me that it is but that doesn't stop me getting quite maudlin about it all.

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We've seen a range of weather the latter part of this week, strong winds, wet from mizzle to lagging it down, temperatures from brrr to bikini, well okay not quite but i'm still riding in shorts and could possibly manage short sleeves too if it wasn't so cool when i set out. Today for example, it was lashing down early doors but now, as i type this, the sun is out and it's warm enough not to need a coat. Of course, its now autumn so we can expect more of this mixed meteorological bag in the coming weeks, with that in mind, i've stretched my budget to some new cycling kit for the winter to replace some of the rather decrepit and damaged gear i've been using so if nothing else, i'll be warm and mostly dry when i do go out.

I set off on Thursday for a loop north to Stroud, i have a regular food stop i use up there. It was a damp, grey morning as i headed up onto the Cotswolds but once on the top it brightened up some as well as warming to comfortable. Of course it couldn't last, both temperature and brightness decreased as i dropped towards my lunch stop just west of Stroud. Chips and sausage were used for calories before setting off on a fairly straightforward route back down to Cabotville. 117km in total but only 800m of up so not the most testing day on a bike.

Friday had rain forecast for the afternoon, my shopping trip resulted in getting a bit damp and a second outing for extra supplies added extra damp to my person.

The forecast for Saturday seemed quite benign, even so, my plans were quite modest, a ride out to Clevedon for a mucky burger with an 'easy' ride back. Ha, so much for that, a stiff wind blighted the outward leg and a couple of showers passed through as i consumed my meat laden lunch. In theory i'd get some assistance on the homeward run, but of course reality was that it was less than i'd hoped as i traced the northern edge of the Mendip eastwards. On a whim i changed the plan a bit, taking a more undulating route that eventually dropped me to the Anon at Aquae Sulis where i picked up the bike path back towards Brunel Town.

Okay, i got tempted by tea and carrot cake before i got back but so what, isn't that the point of going out? The hills pushed the up close to 1000m and 114km isn't a bad ride even if it was a bit slower than of late.

Today has been about getting a couple of jobs that we've been putting off done. The deep fryer has needed a clean and oil change for a while, its a messy job but i couldn't put it off any longer, in the end it took two of us @ an hour to remove the slimey gunk to make it at least look like food preperation equipment again. The second big job was taking down the beans, pre empted a little by the weather bringing one set down Thursday night, another joint effort and most of the dead triffid is now on the compost!

I did get the next Gaby Fame chapter, the penultimate chapter, Cold Pass.

What next? Well tomorrow i go for my next Covid booster, my fourth shot of the pandemic, it costs me nothing other than time and if nothing else it'll boost my 'immunity' a bit. I'm slowly getting the next Gaby chapter wroted, its proving difficult to plot out this bit, i know whats coming after, it would be easy to jump ahead but i'd know i was short cutting and so i'm at a bit of an impasse. I will get it done before mid week, its just taking a bit longer than i'd like.

Thats it for today, back on Wednesday all things being equal,
Tschussie
Madeline Annafrid