but historically this week has often been cold, wet & windy!

Its has however been a fairly productive, not at the KB but horticulturally. First job on Monday was to plant the peas and beans then a second bed got carrots and parsnips but further planting was thwarted due to a lack of seed stock! So after lunch i went with Aunty Bev to a nursery to purchase onion sets and other seeds, on the way back we picked up some grow bags for another project which i'll come to later. I put together a curry night afterwards, prawn bhuna, chicken madras and the works, all that was missing was the Cobra (Indian beer brand) as i'm 'in training'.

The forecast for Tuesday was a damp morning but dry in the pm so i held off on my ride until the afternoon. It was however a bit chilly, @ 4c which combined with the strong winds and general dampness, well it dampened my enthusiasm somewhat so i only ended up doing a paltry 50km via a ride down to Bath and back. At least it was dry so on my return i utilised that and being togged out in thermals to plant the onions as well as swedes and leeks. The potato's didn't do very well last year so we're giving them a miss this year, likewise brassica's so the last bits of bed will likely get beetroot and either squash or perhaps leaf crops, lettuce, rocket, spinach.

I did a bit of pre Spreewald research while i waited for the weather, Over the previous 20 years, the event has used pretty much the same route albeit with some minor changes but for the 21st edition due to some political issues with regard to the wildlide reserve and one of the host towns withdrawing support, they have had to design new courses using different start points etc. etc. So i spent some time checking out the new circuit which comes out at 204km and the already flat 500m appears to have dropped to under 400m of climbing (the high point is just 92m asl from a base level of 46m asl!). It looks like @ 90 of the 204km are new roads for the event and a further 20km haven't been used in over 15 years!

For me, the biggest issue is the 90km to stop 2, i usually don't stop at the first stop, this year at 30km, instead having a longer stop at #2 which is usually @ 75km. So i need to rethink my feed strategy, try some options on my rides in the next couple of weeks, three hours at @ 30kph is a fair effort so getting it right is essential. The rest of the stops are at much smaller intervals, an hour or less apart so much easier to manage.

I also looked out my helmets, i prefer to not wear one for my day to day riding but organised events usually stipulate their use so i do own, er several examples. It was easier said than done finding them, initially i could only locate a couple of museum pieces from the last century, not ideal but a further look located my lighter, better fitting newer examples (each costing @ £150!). I've got everything else covered kit wise, i won't exactly be living the high life given my budget restrictions, no airport food, fancy meals or museum entries on this trip!

And so to today. The project with the grow bags is to 'green up' the front of the house a bit, its fully paved for car parking with a brick storage shed to one side, the plan is to use the roof area of that as a raised flower bed. So once i'd had my morning coffee i set to work cutting timber to produce a frame to contain the grow bags. It took about an hour, the result isn't pretty but it is quite solid, its currently going through the preserver/staining process so despite the cool, damp day it'll be ready for installation maybe later today. Last bit of the job is to plant it up and with an area of @ 0.76 x 2m, thats 15.2m square, that will be an ongoing project and cause to visit nurseries for weeks to come!

As for the rest of the day, well i'll take a walk in a bit - after wrapping up nice and warm!

I'll be back at the weekend,
but for now,
Tschuss,
Madeline Anafrid