here in Maddy land!
Well not the blistering heat we have been having at least, a bit of cloud cover has kept things closer to 25c the last couple of days and highs at the weekend could be as low as 22c before they rise again next week. I can cope with twenty five and sleep comes easy too when its a bit fresher.
So what have i been up to so far this week? Well to tell the truth, Monday was a wash out, i had stuff on my mind and couldn't concentrate, in the end i just submitted myself to trying to chill out.
Not so yesterday, not that i started the day much better but it was bike day, things could only get better. I had a plan, a route to sort of follow and i set off into a morning ideal for riding. (the trip to the REME museum is on hold until next week!) No real wind, low humidity and a steady ride north towards Dursley. Of course i had to switch things up, the climb up Stinchcombe Hill was pretty intense, i'll admit to walking the steepest 25% bit, my gearing not low enough, there are no prizes for killing yourself just because!
Then it was down into Dursley and the bumpy ride to the next intense climb up the Cotswold Edge. The steep bit this time was on loose dirt so once again i did a bit of pushing on the way up but my lunch stop at Nympsfield Long Barrow was just metres away from the top. The views across the Severn to the Welsh hills beyond are expansive from here, you can see the attraction to our ancient forbears.
My return was a bit less intense, dropping back off the Cotswold on quiet lanes and bridleways before the final push back to Brizzle. A little shy of 93km for the day but 1137m added to the climbing pot taking me to 7090m for the challenge with ten days remaining and just 1758m left to climb. Unless something goes awry, that should be easily managed, that's a mere 450m for each of the expected four rides left this month but that would be the wimpy way, after the last few weeks i need to get myself back to full fitness - well where i was at the start of June anyhow!
What about the writing i hear you ask. Well my head is a bit clearer now so i hope to get in the first session of writing today towards the next Gaby chapter, Patreon's should keep a look out for a new post.
Apart from the writing, i will of course be back out on the bike a couple of times before i next post here, the coast beckons, just because and maybe a sojourne Devizes way too. The joy of riding, of exploring countryside that few get to see, is without measure. I'm often the only traveller some of these paths have seen in perhaps months, everyone flocks to the high hills but you won't go far without meeting others, whereas i can often go all day and not see another trail user, there's something cool about finding such solitude on our ever more crowded island.
That's it for today, more Daisy on Sunday but until then,
Wiedersehn,
Madeline Anafrid 
