So once again, sorry for not posting yesterday.

I really couldn't get the brain into gear to do anything cerebral yesterday but downtime for the grey matter is good right? Anyhow, here we go.

If we start with Thursday, as it was the last ride of July I thought I'd push things a little and with the wind from the south I decided to head into Dorset and Cranborne chase. The forecast was warm and by the time I reached Longleat of Lions fame, it was getting a bit sticky. The ride through the estate was pleasant if testing at times but as I headed towards Mere it levelled off to merely rolling and stayed that way through Gillingham (yeah I only knew the Kent one too) until the approach to my lunch stop. Shaftesbury, perched high on a hill on the Dorset / Wiltshire border is nothing like I'd imagined.

Its origins are probably much older but the current town has Saxon origins and immense views on three sides across north eastern Dorset,
more recently, well @ forty years ago I guess, it became famous for 'that' Hovis advert, the delivery boy on the bike. Gold Hill is actually right in the centre, my bike isn't really set up for 25%+ cobbles so I will admit to walking up, maybe i'll go back sometime to do it properly! Anyhow, after a pleasant lunch break looking at the views I set off again to cross The Chase, an area of low Downs more tightly folded than the areas to the north and east, which with the high 20's temperatures meant it was harder work than the outward trip.

Indeed, hard enough that I cut a big chunk off my route, forsaking a corner of Salisbury Plain for a stop for liquid and ice cream in Warminster. Refreshed, I set off for the final leg up to the Avon valley and back into Brizzle. The plan had been for a double metric century but with the short cut it 'only' came to 183km but with a whopping 1900+ metres of ascent. So July has been exceptional on the bike, 13 rides, all over 100 miles, quite possibly the highest monthly total I've ever ridden and with just shy of 20000m of climbing, one of the hilliest too (trips to the Alps not withstanding).

For Friday then I had half planned a longer hike but with temperatures forecast into the low 30's I did a shorter, well 15km walk instead. It was one of those days where you just wanted to dangly your tootsies in a bubbling brook and relax, well I had to make do with a shady bank and a boxed salad!

Saturdays forecast included mid day wet so rather than ride I started some writing. The rain certainly happened but the day was another scorcher, my writing didn't get as far as I'd hoped and I ended up a bit frustrated.

And so to yesterday, Sunday. After the long rides of July, a rest for the legs was in order, a trip to the seaside at Weston then a 'gentle' amble back. Which is what I did, picnic on the beach then an amble back although a ride up Cheddar Gorge is a bit of a stretch on gentle and a 25kph average for the 'short' 130km ride stretches it a bit further. After the usual shower and feed I just felt apathy, mellow enough but as I said last night, no en for my thuse!

Writing then, School’s Out for Summer! is the latest book 2 chapter and today is the concluding post on book 21, Plink!

I'll be cracking on with writing after my Monday chores, news on that mid week.

Tschussie and I'll see you next time!

Madeline Anafrid