Wrong!

Look, it was a long walk okay and then we got talking over tea/dinner and I had a shower and.... well I'm here now with a post full of news.

Lets start on Thursday though, a bike ride day and with the wind out of the West I came up with a cunning route to avoid riding directly into the quite stiff breeze. Up to the 'old' Severne crossing, a quick transit through Chepstow then north up the A48. Yes! the tea bar was open so I stopped for bacon, red sauce and a cup of tea, to fortify myself for what was to come, honest, and to support the tea bar in these difficult times. Back on the road I soon left the main road and headed up into the Forest of Dean which handily provided some shelter from the blazing yellow thing in sky.

After several miles of continual if not taxing climbing I turned for Cinderford, a road with several more serious climbs as it crosses several valleys before dropping me back onto the A48. It was still a dozen miles to Gloucester but with the wind more behind me I made good time and was soon bypassing the city and on the A38 towards Bristol. With 80km on the clock I made a second pitstop for my sandwiches and handily a cuppa from another open tea bar!

Refreshed, I struck out down the trunk road, the wind offering some hinderance but not enough to make the ride a drudge. I finally left the wide expanses of tarmac to use some lanes for the last 20km eventually getting back with 140km recorded at a silly 27+kph! I felt good but that good?

Friday of course it was back to two feet, I seem to have hit a plateau with my running which is to be expected I guess. Then of course it was shopping and preparing the photo blog which filled the rest of the day.

Saturday I was of course back on two wheels and with the wind having turned a bit more from the south my cunning plan was to do a loop which left me with a tail wind finish. Clever stuff eh, well perhaps too clever, the stiff wind was a constant thorn as I crossed the Mendips and it niggled through to my lunch stop near Cross. Then it was on to Weston where I was hit bu sea spray and beach sand half a km from the beach! Of course it was 'interesting' riding along the sea front but eventually I turned in land hoping for that tailwind.

It was there, but as is the way, it didn't feel to be helping that much. Not that the bouncy nature of the road helped. Crossing what should be a bustling city centre on a Saturday, devoid of traffic and citizens is just weird. By the time I stopped the clock I'd added 120km to my stock of km with a quite healthy 25 average, far too much of the route was into the wind so even that was unexpected.

And so to today, Sunday, which has become hiking day. I made my sandwiches and set off mid morning in a generally northerly direction, having devised a route that didn't involve a big climb to finish! And so I walked, and walked, ate my lunch offering and returned to walking through the South Gloucestershire countryside. I finally reached my most distant point, Iron Acton where I picked up the Frome Valley path which I followed back to Brizzle. Five hours, 25km - that's 15 of ye olde distance measures, a heap of photos and sore legs after setting out I collapsed into my lodgings.

I will do you a photo montage, hopefully tomorrow.

Now, other stuff. It has been brought to my attention that Gaby books 2 + 3 are missing from this repository! To put this matter to rights i'll start posting the missing stuff on Wednesday alongside the usual stuff.

Two for One is todays Gaby posting, the lull after the storm and before the action!

Well I think that's enough to be going on with

toodle-oo
Madeline Anafrid