Well the clocks have changed!

The weather is still dominating things here in Cabotville, we might officially be in Spring now and we're back on BST but things are still being influenced by airstreams coming down from the north. So whilst temperatures have at times reached double figures, strong winds are keeping things in gloves and hat territory a lot of the time.

Thursday's forecast suggested some afternoon showers so i thought i'd do a shorter ride, i don't mind a little damp but setting out in the wet can usually be avoided. The wind was behind me as i headed up onto the Cotswold massif, a few drops of H2O whipped through in my way to Tetbury but once i turned towards my kind of planned stop at Dursley, it was the wind, gusting to 68kph, that was the enemy. I found a chippy in the town and fortified myself with pie and chips sat in the cemetary, enjoying a brief period of sunshine.

I did a quick weather check and decided to put on the rain jacket before setting off for the return through the lumps and bumps between Severn anf Cotswolds. It started to spot barely five minutes along the road, the sky ahead grey and foreboding, getting wet looked inevitable. When the main body of rain hit it arrived with monsoon intensity, in seconds i was thoroughly drenched, the rain jacket stood no chance! Whilst it eased a little, maybe even stopped briefly, the rest of the 100km ride was on roads flooded with run off, the wind further driving the damp through clothing, i truly was soaked to the skin when i got to the end of the ride. My weather app suggested there had been over 2.5" of rain in the last hour of the ride!

Friday was still windy and showery but without the intensity or duration of Thursday - i managed to get to the shop without getting more than a few spots of damp.

And so to Saturday, on paper the best day of the week, dry but windy and maybe into the low teens. With the wind still coming from a generally south west direction i thought i'd try for some assistance on the return so i devised a circuit towards the coast but swinging short to Cheddar and thence over The Mendip and back. It was certainly hard work on the exposed levels but the sun was trying and it felt reasonably warm once i turned inland.

I spotted a chippy in Cheddar for some sustenance, sausage today with the fried potato, eaten al fresco watching the grockles on a busy day for the tourist tat vendors! Sated, i returned to the saddle to negotiate the crowds of bikers, petrolheads, climbers, walkers and merely curious as i tackled the climb through the famous gorge. It wasn't quite a tailwind, the gorge twists and turns a fair bit, but i made the 5km climb within my comfort zone only to suffer a deflation at Cheddar Head.

Back on the road, the wind was truly behind for the 9 barrows climb and on across the Mendip to Chewton and, having turned more southerly, even gave less resistance on the ride back to the Avon. Despite crossing the Mendip it was only a little over 850m of up in the 114km, the wind keeping the temp down to an average 8c.

The equally strong winds today are coming from a northerly direction, there's a distinct bite in the air, spring, summer - winter may not have finished with us yet! I'll go for a walk this afternoon but probably just around the block.

As i mentioned last week, i smashed my charity ride target with a huge 100 mile plus ride last Saturday, I must thank everyone who has so kindly donated and supported my efforts, with a couple of rides left for the month i've hit 1000km! If you'd like to donate and haven't yet, you can give here PROPS, this is my only sponsored effort this year, i won't be purse bothering for charity again in 2023!

I'll let you know how much i've raised next week.

In other news, its now just a month before my Spreewald trip and i'm getting a bit antsy! Most stuff is in place of course but even so its best bit of 4 years since i last did a bike trip into Europe, the same for taking a flight. I know i've done these trips a hundred times before but the Covid enforced break has knocked my confidence a bit.

Of course, whilst the focus is the Sprewald Radmarathon, my 11th participation, i'll also be using the trip for research purposes, i'll be in Berlin for a few days before the ride, time enough to reaquaint myself and get in a ride or two, who knows where the results will appear, certainly not me!

There's a new Gaby chapter up, Boris and Jules, part 22 of book 25. Its not the longest but hey, size isn't everything right?

The weather is looking a bit iffy this coming week so who knows what riding and indeed walking, i'll get in. I will be back with more tales drom Btunel Town on Wednesday but for now,
Tschuss,
Madeline Anafrid

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