Well not quite but it has made the last few days less pleasant.

The week has therefore been a bit quieter than it may have been so far and things don't look like they'll be changing before the weekend. Monday ended up being a bit of an indoor day, laundry, a trip to the shops and removing the damaged mudguard from the bike being about the run of things. The mudguard is worse than i first thought, i've no option but to replace it, but of course i have to buy an unnecessary rear too as they are sold in pairs, grr. In the meantime i think i can make a splint as a temporary fix, not ideal but it'll give protection until i can afford the replacements.

The wind flipped pretty much 180 degrees for Tuesday's ride so i decided a trip to the coast would be best, giving me a tailwind return. The idea was to get a mucky burger in Clevedon then take in some untraveled lanes/bridleways around Weston SM before catching that wind back to Brizzle. So the burger bar was closed, plan B, a cafe a few km further on my route, that was also closed so i was resigned to finding something, probably chips, in WSM.

When i reached the town, now best part of 20km beyond my planned stop, the issue was two fold, finding somewhere to safely park the bike and somewhere i could eat that wasn't in the grip of the strong and cold wind. Plenty of outlets but all failed on one or the other option, but lo, the place i used to favour has reopened, inside sitting and not ideal but possible bike parking outside. The place has been 'renovated' so quite nice decor but both the menu and prices have suffered, the reasonably priced family beach cafe is now just another outlet for stupid coffee and overpriced buns with a side of all day breakfast. But it is what it is, poached egg on toast and a mug of tea set me back almost £10, twice the day's budget, but it was that or, i dunno, pushing on and still spending the same.

The return leg had some more 'new' roads, the wind helping me climb to the airport and pushed me back towards the city at some speed, well i hit almost 60kph, the motor traffic getting in the way of anything higher. Back through the city, i stopped the clock with 102km and a bit shy of 700m of up but also with a stiff neck and shoulder from battling the wind. A day later and that's still causing me some discomfort, a sure sign it was a hard ride.

Today has been a 7km walk with a stop for a toasted teacake, not the greatest example but i've had worse. (for non brits, teacakes can either be a chocolate covered mallow cake or, as in this case, a fruited sweet, flattish bread roll, usually sliced in two, toasted and buttered) The wind is back to a more northerly aspect and has swept a few showers through, two hours of that was quite enough. On the plus side, i did see a pair of grey wagtails, not something you see very often, especially along a busy, dog infested river walk.

So that's my week so far, #1 daughter completed her sponsored walk at the weekend, no blisters and more than her target raised, if you contributed, thank you.

The rest of the week will include walking, bike riding, writing and working out how to best 'repair' that mudguard!

Oops, nearly forgot, daughter #1 is doing a sponsored walk, a half marathon distance in the Peak District next weekend for child cancer research, if anyone has a few sheckles to spare you can donate or sponsor here, https://www.justgiving.com/page/susan-rollinson-5?utm_source..., thank you.

More from me at the weekend along with more May Queen, but for now,
Tschussie,
Madeline Anafrid