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Okay so i was fibbling to get your attention!
But i do have all sorts of news for you.
Lets start with Thursday. Well the forecast looked quite promising so i set off to do something i've not done for several months, a ride over the Severn to the Wye / Forest of Dean. The sun was out as i battled against the wind across the bridge but it didn't trouble me further unril the return trip over the water. I dropped through Chepstow, crossed the Wye back into England and started climbing and climbing and climbing, its mostly uphill all the way to St Briavels, a good five miles, climbing arounf 200m in the process. I stayed high towards Coleford before losing most of the height gained dropping to Redbrook down by the River Wye. Its neither flat nor all downhill following the river, first on the English bank then across the river to continue the pursuit on the Welsh side, eventually stopping for a cuppa at Tintern Station.
A bit of bunnage with a pot of tea recharged the tank and it was back in the saddle but rather than follow the main road from Tintern i turned right to take the narrow and often steep lane out of the valley before rehoining the main drag at St Arvans. The sun was still shining as i recrossed the Severn then it was a fairly straight run back to Aunty Bev's. 111km but importantly, 1161m which takes me over my Everest target by quite a bit!
Friday was always going to be a writing day, i managed to avoid too much distraction and eventually finished the next chapter in time to cook up a rustic bolognese which we enjoyed over linguine.
Saturday the forecast was dry but windy and having reached my climb target Thursday i headed east for an easier day. Except that the wind promised to spoil the party! Out to Chippenham for a short tea and burger stop then i took a long loop through Melksham and Trowbridge almost to Frome in an attempt to avoid too much headwind. It sort of worked, i returned to Bath through the tunnels then followed the bike path back for an almost exact duplicate distance to Thursday, still 111km but the odd metres were less, It also added another 800m of up which has pushed the monthly total to 10430m - it would be so much easier in GOC!
I wasn't finished though, after tea i prepared and uploaded the next part of Balancing Trick to Kindle, it was published before i went to bed which was amazing! So, if you are keen to read some all new Gaby and can't wait for the full book, click on the image below ro go get your copy of part 3 now!
And so to today. Well i thought i deserved a bit of a rest so after a bit of a lie in i headed out to get some material for a Sunday lunch. It was a bit mizzly on the walk to Kingswood, by the time i'd got the supplies of was siling down! So i caught a bus back as near as i could to the house,
It was the day for the monthly Sunday Lunch, today that meant roast beef, Mediteranean style roast veggies, mash, roasts, Yorky puds and stuffing. Excellent but neither of us could face a dessert!
Since then i've posted the concluding chapter of Only Five Minutes which you can read here.
So there we are, i'll be back with more cycling tales and news on Wedbesday,
until then,
Tschussie,
Madeline Anafrid
Comments
You're a stinker!
But we love you. :)
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
That was mean.
That was mean.
I was hoping perhaps his daughter had tried her hand in his universe.
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.
Significant date for me.
2nd August 1990 was the day a cat took a shortcut through my front wheel and caused life-changing injuries. I was a quadriplegic for about a week and off work for 3 months. I recovered most movement but my right-side remains dodgy. I'm still able to cycle a bit but my great love of sailing ended because I can't balance. Luckily, I'd bought a helmet for my daily 27 mile commute just a few weeks before or I wouldn't be writing this. I didn't wear for the 400km audax I'd ridden 3 weeks earlier - I always wear one now.
Actually what inspired this was Maddie's description of her ride. It just reminded me. The Tandem Club AGM was held in a hotel near Bristol in about 1988 and we rode a 200km audax which started from the Motorway services next to the Severn Bridge in the halcyon days when you could park for as long as you liked. The route went over the cycle track to Monmouth and on to Ross-on-Wye (may have been Hay, it's a long time ago) and retraced for the 200km distance. I don't recall its being a very hard ride but we were young (48). The 120 mile drive home after reloading the tandem was child's play.
A bit mean to raise my hopes of an unscheduled Terry Prachett discovery :)
R
not much
uses those services these days especially as the hotel is now a conference centre and all the public bridge viewing points are no longer accessible!
I attended several Tandem Club AGM weekends around that time but not that one!
Madeline Anafrid Bell