and other rhetorical questions.

Tomorrow is a big milestone for me, ten years ago, on February 16th my last paid employment came to an end and i made the decision to try to support myself primarily through my writing. A lot has happened since then, both of my parents have passed, a grandson was born, i've had some epic bike trips, lost my home and somehow just about kept my nose above water. There have certainly been ups and downs with the publishing, times of plenty and of lean, productive writing periods and complete inactivity, the only constants have been the support of you guys and my reliance on publishing for 99.9% of my income (the 1% is from miscellaneous Ebay / Vinted sales), it's a living but i'll never be rich from it.

So once again, a very big thank you to everyone who currently / previously has made a purchase or signed up to Patreon it really, really does mean a lot to me.

And so, in other news - the back end of the week has been more 'exciting' than the the first by far.

Thursday was, well Thursday. The forecast suggested a mostly dry day after a damp start so i adjusted my riding plans accordingly. I've not been going north of the city much this year, primarily due to wind direction which has had a distinct southerly tilt to it, varying from South West to South East and even just East. But i had a sort of plan to mix up the riding a little and so set off for a shorter but different route out to Severn Beach. The day was cold, the wind light and i made short work of the ride out to Shirley's Cafe where a) i could sit inside and b) get a proper pot of tea with my sausage sandwich.

I lingered for a while over my 4 cups of tea but i needed to get on. Outside, the wind had picked up a bit but coming off the Bristol Channel it provided a gentle push for a chunk of my return through the South Glos. countryside. Not the longest or hilliest ride, just 62km and 400m respectively but it felt more like a proper ride than a 50km Bath special.

Of course, the other news of the day was the latest Gaby 'book' going live on Kindle - link below.

Friday was - well after a short walk for a few supplies, spent doing not a lot. I did spend some time on my summer trip itinerary, adding an extra night in the Netherlands to give a slightly longer route but shorter days riding. I do now have a pretty good idea on the travel / accommodation cost, food being the biggest remaining cost not factored. The single biggest cost will be the ferry back across the North Sea, @ £200 but that does include accomodation and food, the actual ferry cost is only about £50!

Then to the weekend. Saturday's forecast was bright, dry but cooler, think under 5c with a light wind generally out of the north and west, i can live with that. And so i set off eastwards for a laney ride to Malmesbury and on towards the source of the Thames. Fifty two K to my bus shelter lunch stop at Minety where i rested a while in the sunshine before starting an equally twisting route back. West to Tetbury then over to the Cotswold Edge for the steep drop into the Vale of Berkeley before heading generally southwards back to Brizzle.

A big ride, 121km, 1000+m and a decent 21.5kph average for the day. Of course, i paid the price afterwards, i really need to do these longer rides more regularly than once / twice a month!

And so to today and a return to the damp that has blighted 2026 here in the South West. I've been out for a short walk, i've posted a new Gaby - Balancing Trick chapter, #34 and i've made a sausage casserole for todays dinner.

As for the third week of February, well i'd like to think the weather will be kind enough for some decent rides and i will be back on the keyboard from tomorrow as i start the next chunk of Changing Lives

Thats it for today, back on Wednesday,
Tschussie,
Madeline Anafrid