with the week so far!

The weather has turned somewhat more autumnal, leaves are starting to fall, the daylight is rapidly getting shorter, yep, the end of the year is nigh! With all the Covid restrictions over the last 18 months I really do feel that i've been robbed, robbed of all those travel and social interactions that i've taken for granted in the past and of the time that we can never get back. Its not even that things have stood still, Brexit seems to blight our lives more every day, whether its artificial shortages of fuel, higher taxes or our ability to travel, there is always something. I really shan't be sorry to see the back of 2021, 2022 will hopefully be less disruptive to our daily lives.

I realised this morning that i've been in Cabotville for two years now, it was never meant to be so long, realistically it could be a while yet before I can move on. I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Bev for 'rescuing' me and putting up with me, I really do appreciate it. Its a debt i'll never be able to repay but without her intervention I really do not know what would've happened, my life would certainly have become even more poo smeared, it's not a bed of roses now but I do at least have a roof over my head and my own bed.

The doldrums of Sunday didn't extend into Monday, indeed I was in a fine mood for much of the day, the new tyres arrived less than 24 hours after I ordered them. Still trying to work out how its cost effective to send a £20 order out postage paid but i'm not arguing, I got the tyres I wanted without spending time and money travelling across the city. The result was that I could fit a new tyre and tube Monday afternoon ready for Tuesday, the reserve bike is still there if I need it in future and I have a spare tyre in stock.

The forecast for Tuesday was grey but in theory, from dawn to dusk it would be dry, with a SSW wind I could get in a loop down through the levels with a tailwind return. And so it was that I set off just before 9.30, into the wind to cross the Mendip on my way to central Somerset, doing the hills early on had seemed a good idea but by the time I reached Shepton Mallet I was less sure of that decision! You can drop onto the levels around Glastonbury in a couple of miles from this point but the plan was to loop a bit further south before heading to the coast so it was a lumpy ride through eastern 'set and a route that somehow took me to the old Wessex capital of Somerton where I halted for my sandwiches.

The Law of Sod came into play at this point, neither of the maps I was carrying covered my route west from this point so I ended up doing a bit of point & guess but eventually I returned to my cartography when I dropped onto the Levels. A wibbly route towards the coast took in the 1685 battlefield of Sedgefield before reaching Bridgwater where my route finally started on a more northerly trajectory, the stiff wind finally offering some assistance. A quick squall did little to dampen my mood and I made steady progress across each of the lines of hill that divide the levels into a series of approximately east/west bands.

I was conscious of falling light levels, the taillight came on before the last stretch of Level, a light drizzle followed soon after and whilst still daylight, the front illumination came on as the time moved through six pm. By now though, I was on the home run, through the kickball traffic at Ashton Gate, into the city and by the time I started the climb up to Bev's Palace, it was effectively dark. 178km, 110 miles for the colonials with over 1300m of up, a long eight hours plus day in the saddle, even so I was in good spirits, tired but not exhausted.

Today is back to blue skies with the odd shower, driven by more of those south westerly air currents - yep definately autumn!

Today I bring you something I penned back in 2003, Rhodrii - The Saga of Rhod and Phillipa was my first attempt at an alternate view of the goings on in the world of the then Drew, this time from fellow 'victim', Rhod's point of view. It only ran to two chapters, you get the first today, the second next week. You may spot some continuity issues compared to the Gaby canon, I've left them in and restricted any editing to the odd bit of missing punctuation. So here you go, The Saga of Rhod and Phillipa part One, tell me what you think.

For those kind souls who support me via Patreon There will be a new post today, Goth Princess was intended to be a sort of whodunnit but after the first chapter my head went to mush and I ran out of storyline! Perhaps I'll return to it if I ever get my muse back into full action - like communicating with the keyboard!

Thats all for today, I'll be back again on Sunday
Tchuss,
Madeline Anafrid