I was not in a good mood this morning.  Hey, if you could see the state of my daughter’s bedroom, neither would you be!  OK, it wasn’t just that, but we’re definitely talking straws and the broken backs of camels.  So it’s a darn good thing I had a ride planned, as there is no better way of clearing the cobwebs away, and of getting some head space and perspective.  Of course the fact that the sun was shining was an added incentive, and I was feeling better within about two minutes of leaving the house.  I picked up George from her place as arranged, stripped off a couple of already superfluous items (buff and gilet arms) and we headed south for the winter.

It was gorgeous out there as you will see for yourself.  Practically no wind, blue skies, sunshine…absolutely beautiful.  George is still recovering from her knee op so we were taking it fairly easy.  I got to go up some hills – Notting Hill, Woolavington Causeway, Priory Road, Pedwell Hill, Mudgeley Hill, and Lascot Hill.  Which makes it sound really hilly, but it was only 1160 feet of climbing.  But I enjoyed it.  Look at me – deliberately making a route to include hills as opposed to avoiding them.  Haven’t I come a long way? *grin*

Water near Woolavington - see how much wind there wasn't?

Water at Westhay - no starlings though

Top of Mudgley Hill

It's a sign...

Now I lay me down to sleep...

Rug Hill - it's pretty much all downhill from here 🙂

So you can see how lovely it was out there, right?  I was out longer than I’d expected but didn’t notice as I was having such a nice time just being on the bike.   I keep not going for a ride because of the weather, the timing, the lack of light, the moon being in aquarius, whatever…  Maybe I need to make more of an effort to just get out there.  It’s all training, and it’s definitely good for the head.  I feel much better now :).

Cycling time: 2:31:00 hrs
Distance: 38.03 miles.
Avs: 15.0 mph
ODO: 11033 miles

PS: for the observant of you, that’s another 1000 miles on the odometer, and under the belt :).