is well and truly here!

Yep, the conspicuous consumption of cocoa based treats is about to go into overdrive, waistlines beware!

So, this week huh. The big job on Monday was putting together Aunty Bev's new poo trailer, sounds gross right? let me explain. I've previously mentioned that we have some raised beds for veggies, maybe twenty square metres, which of course need some nutrients adding to promote good crops. In the past Bev has fetched manure from some local stables, its a big job and tbh it brings in a lot of weeds, leaf mould would be better but we don't get much in the garden. However, the local bike track gets as lot which the council just clear into piles so Bev had the idea of collecting some of this but you don't really want to put it in your panniers so, thanks to the big A, a suitable trailer was procurred. Now she can go for a ride, collect some mulch, maybe some horse poo from the roadway et voila, soil food in manageable quantities and for free!

Then in the afternoon i built a new town gate for my 'diorama' - kept me out of trouble for a few hours!

And so to Tuesday. What i didn't mention before was that i had to fit a new tyre to Foxy, the not worn out original had suffered carcass damage after i hit a hidden pothole, sooner or later it was gonna fail so i pre empted that scenario. With a dubious forecast, i decided on a shorter, road collecting ride within Bristol rather than a long mile muncher, by the time i got back there was an all too familiar unevenness on the back wheel this time. Investigation showed a damaged sidewall, so with less than 1000km covered the tyre is toast. I've ordered a replacement but at @ $40 a pop, this is getting silly.

All of which means that today, when i'm done here, i'll start project Mares (thats my big wheel touring bike), it was stripped to the frame last year to replace some bearings and never rebuilt. But the time is here, for a relatively small cost i can have it back on the road - its either that or buy a new bike which, whilst tempting, seems wrong and in any case, my budget wouldn't get me very much and certainly not what i need, vis a robust multi surface touer/explorer.

Once i have the Focus back up and running i can address issues on other machines, refurbish the carbon race bike, sort some issues on the audax bike which have kept that off the road for 5 years. A lot of the stuff is fairly straightforward but inevitably money will need to be spent and its all a bit circular, if i want to go on bike holidays i need working bikes but spending on the bikes means i can't afford the trips. And of course its not just the bikes, a lot of my ancillary gear is on its last legs too, clothing, shoes, luggage - it looks like 2024 will be a year of consolidation, some belt tightening and less sloth to raise the necessary dosh!

As we head towards the Easter weekend, the temperature is falling again - snow with the chocolate? Not unheard of. Anyway, subject to weather and bikes, i'm planning on a ride to Imber, the lost village on Salisbury Plain at the weekend and it'll probably be a shorter ride again tomorrow / Friday.

I'll be back on Sunday with more Gaby and no doubt more tales of bike woe, until then,
Tschussie,
Madeline Anafrid