Well i guess everywhere has history its just that in England its often quite condensed!

The wind was still doing its thing on Thursday so i ended up collecting a few Aquae Sulis streets again, totting up just over 60km.

Friday, Aunty Bev and I went to see the author of Bike down in Dorsetshire, a lovely day, a lovely meal and great conversation.

Saturday arrived somewhat grey but a promise of mid 20's c set me on a ride eastwards to collect some new to me byways. The first was just beyond Chippenham, an early C19th canal path, volunteers are renovating some of the locks and had a pop up cafe which seemed like a good spot for lunch, my sarnies, their tea. I followed the tow path southwards but where it went out of water i got a bit lost and ended up following a footpath which took me to the River Avon (the Bristol one). It was just a short hop then to Lacock, the birthplace of photography before i found some more byway heading generally towards Bradford on Avon. The highlight of this stretch was the timber framed farmhouse that i'm sure hardly anyone knows exists (except for you lot now!)

My return to tarmac had me heading more westerly but i hadn't gone far before being distracted by more off road, this time following a Roman road which in turn follows the even older Wansdyke, an ancient earthwork which runs across much of Wiltshire. More lanes took me to even more byway, this time via a C16th manor house, the route spitting me out at Box, location of not one but two Brunel railway tunnels. I took the lanes rather than the more direct A4 back to Bath which boasts more Georgian architecture than the rest of the country put together, well maybe not quite that much but a hell of a lot, plus bridges, Roman baths, canal, parks and grockles until they fall out of your ears.

Its still 20km from Bath city centre back to Maddy base but its 99% on the original Bristol / Bath railway track bed which was the first repurposed railway bike path in the UK. I got back with 102km / 890m on the GPS so a fair day, even if the return leg was dogged with a stiff headwind in places. out of that there was close to 20km of new to me route, familiar roads are sometimes nice but exploring new byways and roads in unfamiliar areas, countries even, is cool with a capital C.

Today started warm and sunny, the wind having dropped somewhat. It's been a day of smaller jobs, laundry, vegetable gathering, garden maintenance, a bit of grocery shopping and in a while, cooking Sunday 'lunch' - this week it's pork medallions with homegrown taters and carrots followed by a sort of trifle dessert with homegrown fruit and evacuated milk (iykyk!).

But of course, its Sunday so you get chapter 10 of Balancing Trick for your delectation and delight. And just a reminder for those weekend visitors, the first segment of my new opus, May Queen, is now available via Kindle, just click on the image below.

So what does the coming week have in store? Well the plan is to get stuck into more scribbling tomorrow, possibly a burger ride on Tuesday, another relatively short ride on Thursday with a long ride on Saturday down to Salisbury Plain for the Imber Bus event. The forecast has temperatures back in the high 20's by midweek so its looking quite pleasant.

I will of course be posting more drivel on Wednesday, but for now,
Tschussie,
Madeline Anafrid