and all that jazz!
Well firstly, I hope you've all had a great, or at least not bad, festive season so far. One more evening of glad rags and over consumption before we return to the reality of the dark, cold winter here in the northern hemisphere.
It's certainly been busy here in Cabotville for yours truly so lets start at, well the beginning is a very good place to paraphrase Julie Andrews. Instead of the quiet, beans on toast i was expecting, thanks to Aunty B (et al) i started the 25th by preparing the veg and getting the meat in the oven. That gave me a two hour slot to get in the second ride of my Festive 500 challenge, @ 45km down to Bath and back on a cold but bright morning. I did my best to keep the portions small but even so, with five vegetables, two types of potato, pigs, meat (Bev coughed up for a 3 bird roast) and of course Yorkshire pudding, well its a big plateful. From then on, the day consisted largely of sleeping and wondering whether Christmas pud would feature at tea time - it did but not much else featured!
Boxing Day arrived, dry but grey, i thought i'd get another small ride in before cracking on with some writing. Well that sort of worked out, the ride was under 30km but the writing ran to about 2500 words - bleh! And of course dinner was, as you might expect, 'left overs' from the previous day.
After the long ride on Christmas Eve, my challenge was still on track but i needed to grasp the mettle Saturday to keep things going. I set off into a bright but cold morning, the wind chill reducing the temp to @ -4c and in my face as i headed towards my expected stop in Chippenham. There was a distinct chance of black ice for the first hour after which the wind/sun combo had dried the roads if not increased the temp a great deal. I found a purveyor of tea and fried potato fingers in Chippenham, consumed as i sat in the sun sheltering from the icy wind that would hopefully blow me back to Brizz.
The biggest problem now was the Sun, low in the sky and effectively blinding me for much of the ride back westwards, the light starting to fade as reached journeys end. 108km and 800+m of up, a decent ride which put my challenge distance completed to 311km with four days remaining, you do the maths.
And so to today. I could have ridden today but after four days straight i thought a rest would be in order before the final assault so it's just been a short walk and this afternoon i will crack on with the writing! Of course, it being Sunday i've posted Chapter 28 of Balancing Trick for your enjoyment, even if its not the most happy chapter of the book.
So what of the next few days? Well i'm looking at completing the challenge across just two rides although i may ride every day to New Year. My 'tradition' is to have a 'feast' on New Year's Eve, i'm not a party person although i do like to welcome the New Year so that's the plan. I anticipate posting here too so that's 2025 done and not quite dusted.
As for 2026, well i'm starting the year off with a visit to GOC, i catch the bus northwards New Years Day and i'll be returning the following Tuesday, after twelfth night, so its most likely i wont be posting next Sunday. Its not the timing i was expecting for the trip but my Bro will be away working for the following month and i did promise to go see the kids sooner rather than later.
So that's it for now, i'm gonna get some lunch then hit the keyboard,
bye for now,
Madeline Anafrid
