or as we say in Yorkshire, 'appen its a bit warm!

Yep, our mini heatwave continues, the forecast is for it to break at the weekend but what do they know? Take yesterday, the forecast was to reach 30c but my comp reached 40c at one point and it was 31/2c for much of the afternoon even with the slight cooling breeze.

The true horror and effects of last weeks Ahrtal flooding really are horrendous, 160 dead, 30 bridges damaged or destroyed including ten on the rail line meaning the Ahrtal Express, the lifeline for many Ahrtalers, is out of action. It will take time and of course a lot of €'s but I'm sure there will be recovery. I'm sure that in the coming weeks, months there will be ways we can support that recovery, in the meantime all most of can do, due to other issues, is offer moral support to the region and not let it be forgotten.

I set Gaby there as it was an area I know/knew fairly well after visits over @ 15 years and because its a nice, scenic area without the 'tweeness' of better known areas of Germany. Whilst Gaby is of course fictitious, the towns, villages, roads and many of the locations are real, in these sad days those descriptions of happier times live on.

Monday I thought it would be a good idea to go blackberrying, well at least checking on their progress so I took a hike across the Frome valley to Purdown. Lots of fruit but still @ a week short of a proper crop. I found a few and combined with some I collected at the weekend and raspberries from the garden, I made a summer fruit crumble that we enjoyed with ice cream at tea time. Next time I'll go properly prepared with walking trousers and a hat!

My plan for Tuesday was a decent if localish ride, returning ahead of the accumulated late afternoon heat, a ride out to the coast then back ticked the boxes but rather than the usual WSM, I decided on Burnham on Sea where Gaby's Nan and Gramps live. A slightly earlier start had me there before noon and before the heat really dialled up, the view from the promenade across to the Quantock hills and Exmoor beyond was a bit hazy but the sky was pretty much wall to wall blue.

I had a rough route back in my head, essentially east to the Mendip then north back to Brizzle which is sort of what I did. Well except I used a few lanes, by the time I had to abort my climb onto the Mendip, the road was closed for unknown reasons, it was getting quite warm. It wasn't far to the alternative climb but before I reached the turn I was side tracked by the Strawberry farms, one of which supplied a punnet of erdbeeren, some shade and a refilled waterbottle. Rested rather than refreshed, I dragged myself up the scarp, stopping several times, the heat making breathing uncomfortable on the 10/15% climb but then I was at the top and the cooling effect of moving a bit quicker combined with less physical effort soon had me back within my comfort zone.

It was then a fairly straight run back along the A roads before cutting to the Avon valley and a last effort along the bike path back to Bev's Gaff. Over 1380m of climbing, 151km, over 7 hours dans la selle and an average 26c for the day left me hot, bothered and despite drinking plenty, a bit dehydrated.

The weather is much the same today so I'll restrict my activity to a trip to the shops for some essential supplies after lunch, more lemonade, some bread spread and indeed some bread.

Another long Gabysode today, Repeat Performance is part 38 of The Visitors. Its packed with bike racing, family issues and some celebrity hobknobbing! But it'll soon be Christmas which has to be good, right?

That just about wraps things up for today,
Tschuss,
Madeline Anafrid

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