some good news, some, well disappointing

Lets get the less good news out of the way first. So number one is a sort of double googly, book sales, particularly from the US, have, since December, been catastrophically poor, as a result my income has been slashed by @ 60%. That's never going to be good and due to the two month delay in payments, bad figures for February mean bad income in April and so on. Those with longer memories might recall that i was planning on going to Germany in April to ride the Spreewald Radmarathon, the 200km event i've ridden 11 times previously, well the budget just isn't going to make it so with a heavy heart i've made the decision this morning to cancel the trip. I could have dipped into my 'savings' to make it happen but even the tightest budget for the trip would be £600, at the moment i'd prefer to have that in the bank, i have other stuff happening that i may need that for more than a vanity trip.

The other thing that's a bit of a downer is the poor response to my sponsored riding on behalf of Cancer Research UK, i'm not directing this at folks here but to my wider group of friends and associates. I set the target low, just £150, i know times are hard but across the hundred or so folks in my 'circle', that's basically a cup of tea each. Oh well, i'm still doing the riding, its 200 miles during March, the charity will get something at least. If you'd like to support me in this you can pledge here but i'll not think less of folks if you don't. I try to do a fundraiser every year, but only once so this is a one off for 2025.

Okay, so that's the gripes and woe over for today, lets get onto some more uplifting stuff. The end of February and beginning of March has seen a break in the weather, the winds have eased, skies are blue and temperatures, well we haven't really broken into double figures yet but the sunshine makes it seem warmer at least. Early flowers are showing some colour, heck, even the rhubarb is making an appearance.

Thursday i thought i'd do a shorter ride after my Birthday ride on Tuesday so i set out for a North Somerset loop with a burger stop. After the cold and wind making rides less enjoyable for the last several months, it was a joy to be out. My stop was at Clevedon for a 'mixed' burger, that's a chicken fillet topped with a burger, cheese and salad - not quite a mucky burger, not quite a healthy burger but enjoyable all the same. The return leg was fairly direct, the ride came in at 85km with 555m of up and less fatigue than Tuesday!

Friday was for walking, not a huge one, a bit shy of 6km in a loop down and along the river with a sausage sarnie as lunch mid way.

And so to yesterday, Saturday. I set off into the cool, sunny morning with no destination or particular route in mind, not expecting to do more than Thursday. It felt a bit warmer, indeed before i'd done 20km the winter mitts were off, replaced by the much lighter spring gloves as my hands were already saturated. I doodled my way onto the Cotswold massif and made my way eastward which suggested a lunch stop at Chippenham. By the time i stopped for a breakfast wrap, i had over 55km in the bank, a quick calculation suggested i might make the 100 for a second time this week.

It wasn't quite t shirt weather but it was pleasant enough as i looped past Corsham and made my way back across to Bath from where its an easy 20km mostly along the bike path. The Garmin had over 80km on the screen as i started the off road route which meant i ended the day with 104km and 700m of up. The Spreewald training was looking good but i refer you to paragraph one.

And today, the weather is a repeat of yesterday, i need to get some groceries so i'll be out for a short walk, atm i'm not sure what's for dinner, the cupboard is looking a little bare. What i do know is that chapter 29 of Smell of the Crowd, Stand In, is now ready for you to read, i hope you enjoy it.

As for the coming week, well i guess its same old, same old, the weather looks set fair for at least a couple more days so maybe i'll get a bit more adventurous for my walks/rides?

I'll be back on Wednesday but for now,
Tschussie,
Madeline Anafrid