- Well it fooled me anyway!

Yep, another month has passed and whilst there are pretentions, Spring is having its work cut out this year. Some of the veg that i've planted is going great guns, others are still waiting for some warmer weather - today its about 9c, i'm sure it should have a one in front of that!

Its been a bit of a weird week, the getting back from Berlin Monday/Tuesday, the issues with my leg directly related to that and the arrival of a dose of 'hay fever'. It was Friday before i tested the leg out on a bike, 60km that told me that things weren't quite right yet. The result of the DVT back in 2017 is that the lymph nodes in my lower leg are damaged, there's no treatment as such, the result is that prolonged inactivity results in fluid retention which then causes discomfort/pain in the muscles. This usually passes once the swelling has abated but this week its taken a bit longer to reach the 'comfortable' point, my 51km today have been better, the swelling has pretty much gone and i expect that i'll be up for a longer ride on Tuesday.

Wednesdays post was a little thin on information, yep, the leg issues and a lingering dose of 'jet lag' were to blame so i'll fill in a gap or two. The highlight of the German trip was of course the big bike ride last Saturday and whilst bike riding took place on all but the travel days, 550km in total, i spent a lot of time walking in Berlin, close to 50km. It was this walking that provided some hopefully useful 'research' data that will find its way into forthcoming writing, you can research a lot on the interweb but there is nothing like actually being there, doing things, seeing and experiencing stuff. Remote 'learning' doesn't give you the local 'colour' that you get first hand, the demeanor, the feel of the place, i've been to Berlin maybe a dozen times in the last 30 years and i probably learnt more on this trip than on any of the previous visits.

My time down in the Spreewald was less informative, the previous visits had more exploration but even so, the results of my experience will undoubtably turn up in future scribbles. Even just the riding adds to the pool of experience to pull from, unless you've ridden in a peloton at 'race' speeds its impossible to imagine the dynamics, the art, the tribulations of doing so. From the outside looking in it can appear so simple, experiencing the cut and thrust is a different matter, a bunch of ten is so different to a larger group, a small change in pace can alter the flow dramatically, can you take your turn or are you hanging on the shirt tails, etc, etc.

I'm quite chuffed that i did the ride in a time that puts me firmly in the top 20% of those taking part and whilst there isn't official timing, i may well have been the fastest over 60 on the day! I'm also very impressed that the fastest riders on the day were only 35 minutes ahead of me so not bad for a crocked grandparent on a borrowed bike!

So, as you can see, these trips are invaluable to my writing but they are only possible with your continuing support for which i thank you all. The next trip will be late summer, i'll be visiting the corner of Germany that Gaby calls home, the Eiffel, Mosel, Rhein across a couple of weeks most likely camping to keep costs down.

As promised i've posted the next Gaby chapter, you can read A Royal Flush now, i hope you enjoy it.

Well that's it for today, as we head towards the big day next Saturday (the first coronation of a new British Monarch in my lifetime) we have to get through the first of the month's 3 Bank holidays, may the weather improve, i'll be back on Wednesday.

Tschuss,
Madeline Anafrid