Seems like its one of those weeks!

So you recall last time i'd had a series of 'issues', well the second half of the week has been no better! Its not all been disaster my ride on Thursday was okay, 106km around Wiltshire with a proper sit in cafe stop for sossidge, egg and chips. No it was Friday when things went awry again.

It started out okay, we went to fetch Aunty Bev's new E bike which went much better after the kick up the rump on Wednesday that shouldn't have been neccesary but hey ho. No it was when we got back that things went south. There was a message from my bank about potential fraudulent activity on my account, a long phone call later and my card was cancelled so i'm currently unable to access my accounts. Seems that my details were traded on after i made a legit purchase last week, how the bank picked up on the thieves i don't know but i'm glad they did, just waiting for the new card to come through now, probably Wednesday.

Of course that then meant i couldn't do the planned shopping on Friday and influenced my options for the weekend. Could things get worse? you betcha! The lesser, but still annoying issue, was the gift i sent to Angharad arriving half dead (it was plants), so i'm now trying to get that sorted.

A ride on Saturday, has to be good for the soul and some relief from the run of bad luck i've been having. The weather was cooler but quite bright as i set off up onto the Cotswolds before making my way on the higher ground towards Stroud. Of course, at some point you need to drop into the valley and i thought i'd use a lane i hadn't been on to do so, you know, enquiring minds and all that. The lane was single track and not in the best repair, about usual for these parts, it dropped steadily but increasingly steeply, after a bit i thought i'd rest both my hands and brakes, readjusting the brakes at the same time.

I set off again, going super slowly, the road tilted down at one in stupid when suddenly things went, well chesticles up in a big way! the rear wheel left the ground but i couldn't let the front go to return it to the ground due to the road surface, at which point things went rapidly from bad to acrobatic! In seconds i found myself pinned under the bike, head downhill from legs and machine which made even sitting up nigh on impossible. It took me a while to extricate myself, one leg was free but the other was caught between the handlebars and stem, the front wheel facing backwards, the rest of the bike having pirouetted around the during the incident.

A quick check revealed no visible injuries to me and just a bit of superficial stuff to the bike - even the banana in my pocket escaped damage! I say visible injuries, i was a bit sore in a few places from the slow speed impact, my shoulder took the brunt and i must have put my hand out as well, both felt bruised. I straightened things out, walked the rest of the steep incline, all of @ 20m, then remounted to go find a lunch stop. One mucky burger and tea later i set off back towards Brizz, arriving with 110km and just shy of 900m of climbing in the legs.

Apart from avoiding that lane, what did i learn? Well i know my brakes work and i know i made the wrong technique choice for the descent, The gradient on the problematic bit of 'road' was over 30%, thats close to 1 in 3, i've descended as steep without issue but usually they are better surfaced than this lane which has no gradient warnings, at least heading down. I'm still a bit sore this morning but everything is working and even my clothing escaped damage so it's really only my ego thats damaged.

Today, well its a nice one again, i'll take a walk later and, fingers crossed, nothing will go wrong today! I have already put the next Gaby chapter up, And a Crash is part 8 of On The Edge, book 26 in the saga. I'll be cracking on with book 28 this week, Patreons can expect to see the fruits of my labours maybe as early as tomorrow. If things go to plan i'll be back to normal schedules by Wednesday.

For now that's it,
Wiedersehn,
Madeline Anafrid