is here, what happened to the summer?

That's a bit rhetorical, i know what happened to it, i missed most of it due to 'events' but i guess that's just the way it is.

The back end of the week has been just as busy as the start so lets crack on. Thursday i took one of my regularish loops through the Chew valley with a lunch stop at Clevedon, 70 ish kilometres, not a great deal of climbing and a stiff westerly to contend with.

Friday was jammed, down to the railway station to get my 'Senior' railcard - geez, makes me sound ancient but its well worth the purchase for the fare savings on our very expensive rail network - more of that later. Then it was on the train just a few stops to Bradford on Avon to meet my brother. In case you were wondering, my sibling drives a coach for a living, this week was a holiday tour to Wiltshire, hitting some of the delights the county has to offer. Anyhoo, we met, had lunch, took a stroll around the main 'attractions', the the Saxon church of 709AD, the new church next door of 1152AD, the tithe Barn, a mere 500 years old and the machine, Iron Duke, from which the town and the Avon Tyre Co owe so much. It was a good day, it'll be November before we are face to face again.

Back in Brizz i set about using my new railcard for that November trip north. One reason i usually use the coach for these trips, well the main one really, is price, the journey by coach is often under £10 each way, the standard fare on the train is something like £120 one way! The railcard generally saves @ 30% but utilising some extra dodges i got the round trip for just £25 with no extras for seat booking, extra bags etc, etc. I'm well chuffed, its a lot quicker too. It might not always be so good but i've already saved a lot more than the cost of the railcard just on this journey.

Anyway, Saturday came around and i set off to grab some lunch at Stroud, up over the Cotswolds to get there, a flatter, shorter route for the return leg. It was a fairly bright day but the wind was from the north east and strong, i was on my knees after 60km essentially into the wind. I collected my tickets at the station then sat down in the cafe for a pie and mash dinner (half the size of Dorchester Ang but the same price!) The hoped for tailwind on the return never really kicked in, i certainly knew i'd done 112km with 900+m's of up.

Normally after a Saturday ride i'd just do a short walk before cooking dinner but it's September 1st, which means it's Hill village hall, bunfest, a mecca for cyclists, the proceeds going to local charities, air ambulance, hospices etc. The cakes and tea were as usual, excellent and i completed my 60km ride out dry. It was as i cooked our Sunday lunch, garlic chicken with roast taters and veggies, that the thunder storm came through, hanging about for almost an hour which at least cleared the heavy air.

Its Sunday so you get chapter three of Smell of the Crowd, Frankfurter.

I'm looking to get some writing under my belt this week, hopefully i'll have some positive news on that front next time.

Tschussie,
Madeline Anafrid

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