ha, you thought i was gonna lead with the weather, gotcha!

Obviously its a big week for god botherers of a particular persuasion which in the UK means two Bank Holidays and (in theory) an enforced day off for everyone working in retail today. In reality some 'newsagents' and fuel stations have been open but the majority of retailers do abide by the law, mostly to avoid the bad press rather than the punitive fines. With retail therapy not an option, the more traditional attractions tend to get overloaded as the middle classes search for an alternative way to entertain themselves on this one day.

Anyhoo, lets start back on Thursday. The weather looked a bit mixed and tbh i wasn't feeling very enthused but i forced myself out on the premise that any ride is better than no ride. Of late, if i set off northwards i end up in Stroud but for a change i used a more easterly route before heading up a quiet and steep lane traversing the Cotswold Edge. And yes, i'll admit to walking the steepest few metres, my legs weren't feeling up to the 20% plus grade but it was less than 100m before i remounted to claim the summit.

It sort of made sense to then head across to Chippenham for my lunch stop, the sun made the odd appearance and it was quite enjoyable. The return was a bit more overcast but the legs were good and i finished the day with 111km at an average of over 23kph.

Good Friday was, well a bit mediocre, the weather was a bit bleh, cool and a bit damp but i managed to get in a 6km+ walk nevertheless.

The forecast for Saturday was even worse so i decided to push my ride down to Imber back a day. The weather did actually clear up late morning which led to a 7km+ walk which filled out the afternoon.

And so to today. Apart from wind direction, the weather looked spot on, i got myself organised a bit earlier than usual, setting off for Salisbury Plain at nine sharp. Considering the unhelpful wind, i made great progress, i sort of planned on reaching Imber about 12.30 but i dismounted at the church at 11.45. A cuppa and the sandwiches i toked 65km to get there filled much of my visit time before i set off for the slightly shorter return leg.

The wind kept things just about tollerable as i climbed out of the valley that Imber lies in, then it was a couple more km of gravel to reach Westbury white horse before dropping to the Wiltshire Plain. Progress was a little slower than the outbound but i was riding well within myself, eventually rocking up to the house after 225km, 900+m of up and just 0.5km slower than Thursday. Not sure why but i seem to be riding faster on average than i have since 2022, not that i'm complaining, its not by design.

Of course once i'd had a little rest it was time to sort out dinner, a lamb Wellington with roasties etc, which, i have to say, hit the mark and left no evidence on our plates!

That's all for today, i'll be back with more on Wednesday,
Tschuss,
Madeline Anafrid