I'm sure I'm boring you all stiff, but I have just completed another ride up the ridgeway, this time on my race bike - something a few days ago, I wouldn't have believed I could do. This bike is higher geared than the others, with only a compact chainset instead of the triple. It goes faster but takes more effort.

In March last year I posted a blog about cycling over the South Dorset Ridgeway. From, the Weymouth side, it rises about 100m much of it in the form of a chalk escarpment. From the north it's a longer gentler pull, from the south, a much steeper prospect with nasty hairpin bend about a third of the way up.

The British Lion has roared at the track cycling in Beijing, a medal in every event so far plus a gold and silver in the Keirin and the same assured in the women's 3000m individual time trial. As a member of British Cycling; I am overjoyed. I presume I can stand down now, as they look as if they can cope without me. 8)

This from yesterday's media which featured amongst others on microsoft news.

http://www.thedenverdailynews.com/article.php?aID=1381

I hope the link works.

Angharad.

I like to keep an eye on my stories to see which ones are more popular. At present, that seems to be Totally Insane which at the time of counting, a few minutes ago, had a combined hit score of 17,500 for ten episodes. Looks like I'll have to keep it going a bit longer (or the death threats from a soon to be teenager, will start again!).

An interesting and sympathetic article, worth reading. I hope the link works.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/child...

Hugs,

Angharad

What a week - it began on saturday evening when my mountain bike, upon which I had carried about two tons of food shopping earlier, made funny noises on braking. A strange noise, sounded a bit like the spokes were being rubbed, but as it was only on using the rear brake, I decided it had to be that. Nowhere was open to sell me some more brake blocks,so it became a job for sunday.

The next part of Totally Insane should be up tomorrow, I have to finish the edit. However, I was a moment ago, looking at the hits list, in eight episodes it has registered 15,205 hits.

I have explained before that Totally Insane was intended as a one or two parter. It seems that some of you like it, one reader in particular likes it enough to send me begging letters, for more! There's no accounting for taste, I suppose.

I'd already been out on my new bike, the carbon fibre job, which flies like a rocket when my legs have the energy to pedal fast enough. It had been spitting rain and I wondered if I was going to get caught in a deluge, like the one which prompted me to start writing 'Falling off a bike'. But the clouds passed over.

Gabycon 2008 - the blog!

This is a purely personal account of my weekend. The drive up was good, I had to detour at Bristol to collect Saphira and her bike from the airport- well the Holiday Inn. This it turns out is nowhere near the airport, and might even be closer to Taunton. I did however find it within 48 hours (good job I packed an emergency Lion Bar).

Interesting piece about a condition I find perplexing although sufferers draw comparison with transsexualism.

http://news.uk.msn.com/newsweek.aspx?cp-documentid=8400124

On Sunday I wrote and posted over 11,000 words on this site in three separate entries, Totally Insane;Totally Insane (Concluded) and Falling off a bike.

Quite how or why I did it, and that included help from one or two others with express proofing etc.,I don't know. Something seems to drive me, does that happen to other writers?

'Falling off a bike' started as an experience of cycling through a thunderstorm. Today, I cycled through another one, this time on a mountain bike, with some wet weather gear and mudguards on the bike.

Here we are again, the end of another weekend with work lurking just over the horizon. Once more I feel that I haven't done very much at all, didn't do a bike ride or write another masterpiece, only fiddled about and achieved very little.