Yes indeedy, its time to be entertained.

So January is over - its been a strange month here in Cabotstadt, a month of lots of walking, less riding and pretty much every type of weather you can think of, just today I've had three types of snow but there's been rain, gales, fog, blizzards, ice, freezing rain, sunshine, drizzle - I could go on but I think you get the idea. My final walk count for the month came out just shy of 140km but I only did a paltry 900km on the bike - well I did have a mid month break from riding thanks to the rear wheel issue and the weather has restricted my rides some when I have got out.

Lets catch you up then. Well once again, the weather disrupted my ride days, Thursday didn't look to be a ride day so instead I took myself for a bit of a walk which turned into over 10km which still left a bit of time to start the next Gaby chapter.

On to Friday, a windy forecast suggested a slightly unusual route - normally my rides are either all to the north of the Brizzle Avon or south of it but on this occasion I set off northwards, then looping over to the Severn to cross the Avon at Avonmouth. Then it was down through the Gordano Valley to Clevedon, another loop then taking me back inland to the airport, stopping just beyond for my sandwiches. I had a tail wind now, to make the most of it I dropped down to Chew Magna before crossing the valley through Stanton Drew to pick up the Bath road. Down, well mostly, to Bath then it was back along the bike path.

Just over 112km for my troubles, and a second dry ride in a row!

Although Saturdays forecast was okay-ish, having ridden on Friday I opted for a trip on foot for a few supplies then settled down to write for a few hours. I think I've mentioned this before, I'm essentially a one finger typist which does slow progress a bit, even if I'm on a roll, a chapter will take at least four hours to write, the need for research can stretch that to six hours and that's when I have a definite plot to follow! Anyhow, I finished the chapter so I'm actually a bit ahead for once.

And so to today. The Met. Office suggested a dry day but cold with a strong easterly coming through so I set off, once again with a plan to make maximum use of the wind. Up onto the Cotswold massif then the long easterly drop to Chippenham - into the wind but apart from being two dog cold it wasn't a bad morning to be out. Down to Lacock Abbey (if you've ever seen a costume drama chances are you've seen Lacock!), over the Avon which had burst its banks, drowning the road in @ half a metre of dirty water, I used the raised footway.

The first signs of 'trouble' came as I headed towards Melksham, some icy component in the wind which within a few minutes became snow, not a full on blizzard, but enough to consider it to be seriously snowing. It wasn't quite what I'd planned but I found a handy bus shelter to take shelter and eat my lunch, cheese and pastrami, my usual filling. I reassessed my route, even the most direct route would be forty kilometres back, far enough in the conditions, any ideas of going a more roundabout way were forgotten.

The snow was showing no signs of letting up, indeed the fields and Maddy were being coated in white even as I headed thro' Trowbridge, more so as I climbed out past Farleigh Castle into the mess of hills where the Cotswolds crash into the Mendips. By the time I reached Bath, it was lighter and wetter but Sod's law, its cold and wet and my front tyre was flat - easily sorted with a new tube which the pump refused to inflate! Deep breaths Maddy, I got enough air in to get me back, the snow petering out by the time I reached journey's end. 103km, despite the deflation and the cold and snow, I enjoyed the ride - I'm weird like that.

Today is of course an Avoidance day, chapter 31, Deutches Girls, takes in the race presentation and the start of the first stage.

Just a reminder that the latest part of On The Edge is available on Kindle. In a volume filled with angst, Gab has some hard thinking to do and an unexpected racing opportunity isn't necessarily what the doctor ordered. This penultimate instalment of book 26 comes to you at a slightly lower cost than usual as will the final part next month. The link below goes direct to the Kindle USA page.

And finally today, a special thank you to those who have offered/given me support after Amazon screwed me over with the royalty payments this week. (I'm working up a new Nena story as requested!) It really is very much appreciated, I won't be dining extravagantly but there should be more than beans on toast on my plate through February! I am already looking forward to the blowout birthday celebration when I do get my money through and I might even manage to drop a dress size with my forced frugality!

Bye for now,
Madeline Anafrid