Of cucumbers and megaliths

and other late April doings

It's been an 'interesting' second half of the week and into the weekend. If my finances had been as expected pre Orange One, i would have been in Germany right now for the Spreewald Marathon weekend, instead sales dropped through the floor stateside and i'm reduced to an income of less than a third of what i'd call liveable. My financial optimism is at the lowest its been since 2019, whilst living hand to mouth is nothing new for me, it does little for your mental health.

Anyhoo, back to this week. Thursday i took the bike out for a variant of my Chippenham circuit, putting in some roads i've not used this year combined with some regular features. By the time i reached base the GPS had 105km showing and i felt like i'd had a decent-ish ride.

Friday was, well a bit meh, a trip to the supermarket for some essentials being the highlight.

And so to Saturday. I had a couple of ideas for my ride, none of which particularly inspired so when Aunty Bev suggested a car assist i was well up for it. Which is how i found myself at 'Steam' in Swindon (the GWR railway 'museum' in the old works), setting off to ride back to Brizzle. Route planning had been pretty much on the fly so i set out to follow the remnant of the Wilts canal before climbing onto the sub Ridgeway ledge at Wroughton.

I'd like to ride the Ridgeway sometime but not this time, i continued south to Avebury where i stopped for victuals adjacent to the great megalithic monument, a site big enough to fit Stonehenge inside several times over and that's without including the wider landscape of stone avenues etc. The first time i passed this way was about 1970, in a truck with my Dad, we were headed across country to Exeter as i recall in a time before the dual carriageways and motorways offered much help. It was well before dawn, cold and dark, i just remember seeing these huge monoliths looming out of the dark as we entered the circle, this was something, somewhere special. It was literally decades later before i returned for a proper visit but i still have a sense of awe when i visit the place.

I set off once more, descending past Cherhill white horse before making my way towards the Avon valley and roads more frequently used. Out of neccesity, most of my rides have the same start and finish points but there is something special about a point to point, a feeling of adventure even if you know the roads and terrain. The ride only amounted to 89km with 600m of up but it felt, well, exhilirating.

Which brings us to today, a glorious day of sunshine and light winds. I've already done the laundry, checked over the Flora and posted the new Gaby chapter. Yep, you can read Body of Art now - the BlauHase tour is heading towards its climax, will Erdbeer go out with a bang or a whimper?

The rest of the day - well i see a walk in my near future, its not the German countryside i was hoping for but hey ho.

That's all for today, i'll be back with more musings on Wednesday,
Tschussie,
Madeline Anafrid