Right, best crack on then and once again I'll just lob photos up and do the wafflin' as captions.
So where do we start? Sunday 20th August, that's where.
Ah yes, now ahead of Sunday the 20th, the forecast had been promising, and I intended taking the Marin out for a ride, but come the day itself, well as you can see it was wet. Get the magnificent Marin all mucky? Oh no no no... I did however still want, no need, to go out for a ride and get a nature fix, so got all togged up in wet weather gear, fished out the Voodoo, and set off to go for a mooch about locally rather than the longer ride I had originally planned.
Hitting the top of the hill by Four Turnings I was inwardly bemoaning this awful summer we were having. It wasn't raining hard mind you, it was just drizzle with occasional spells of light rain, but it was also misty and generally a bit 'orrible out.
The 'mission shift' I'd undergone from Marin and bigger ride to Voodoo and local one was a conscious shift. The next, a shift in attitude, came about quite naturally. After initially wondering just what the hell I was doing going out and getting wet, and feeling a tad grumpy about the mucky weather, I started to actually enjoy it.
I put that sudden change down to descending down to Riverside, a junction where I join the lane from Probus that leads right through to Tresillian. Down there, surrounded by trees and hedges, and with the sound of the river gurgling nearby and the gentle pitter-patter of rain in the trees, I started to relax and immerse myself in the countryside as it was at that time, on that day, with that weather.
Bindweed looks lovely but has a bad reputation for taking over large areas of verge or hedgerow and smothering all that went before it.
Down at Riverside there is an eye catching patch of these Cranesbill, or Hardy Geranium. An escapee from a nearby garden most likely that has spread around the verge, these attractive flowers currently share space with the above Bindweed, so they could be in for a struggle for survival.
These little chaps, Campion, are great little sources of colour for a large chunk of the year, brightening up the roadsides long after the glamourpuss, more extrovert, flowers have been and gone.
The secret to enjoying the rain is to be somewhere peaceful if you ask me. Well that's a bit obvious to say the least, but riding along a main road copping the spray in your face from passing traffic is an ordeal in anyone's money. On roads like this, where an encounter with a car is seemingly on a once every 30 minutes or so basis, choosing to be out in the rain can feel liberating and invigorating. Normally we give rain a swerve, do our best to avoid getting wet and so on, but choosing to go out in it, and reveling in it, is a very refreshing and uplifting experience, if you can do it in the right circumstances that is. Luckily for me, these lanes are on my doorstep, so it's just a matter of getting the waterproofs on and getting out there.
It's not always so good though, such as when it's blowing like hell and the rain is lancing into you like a succession of sniper's bullets, but when the rain is light and the temperature warm, the countryside can be a pretty magical place to be.
Fuzziness caused by camera shake...
And fuzziness during the upload process.
Seeing as I was out and about and without any urgency in my day, another spot of Blackberrrying was in order - yum.
Proper bimbling - just four or so mph on the speedo, gear - low, cadence - low, heartbeat - low.
Pleasure - high.
Just choochin' along...
Back out onto the more exposed hilltops again, but in a much more relaxed mood.
Always best to give way to agricultural stuff I find, especially when it fills the lane like this beggar does.
Now where are we? Ah right, Tuesday the 22nd of August.
Now that's more like the sort of weather we should be having in August.
Only a brief ride this one though, and not many photos taken either. I was struggling to be honest and not feeling the buzz. My head was achy and my legs leaden, so I wasn't enjoying the ride as much as normal, but it happens and as long as the desire returns then all is good.
I don't know anything about Mushrooms, Toadstools or Fungi, but they are quite remarkable things when you really stop and look at them.
Well that was that for that day, told you I didn't get up to much.
I got up to even less bike wise on Thursday the 24th...
Just a quick ride up the cycle path at the Western end of the village for yet more Blackberries - got to get 'em while stocks last!
Now we're up to Sunday the 27th August - the Bank Holiday weekend, and what a scorcher the weekend was!
More striking Fungi, this time in the shape of a lonesome jobbie near Boswiddle. Looks like some beast or critter has taken an exploratory munch, rather them than me...
Oh joy, surface dressing.
To be fair, it's not as bad a practice as it used to be, at least on these lanes anyway. They use a much finer grade of chipping now and are less liberal with the quantities too - no longer pouring tons of gravel along the road for traffic to plough through and disperse, paint chippingly noisily, into the verges.
The lane skirting the edge of Ladock Wood from Trelassick to Trendeal is a bimbler's treat. Smoothly surfaced, quiet and devoid of lung busting gradients, it's great to drift along taking in the sights and sounds of the adjacent woodland.
One of the smaller combines as these things go these days, at work just above Trendeal.
While I was watching the combine growling up and down, and ripening my arms and neck nicely in the hot sun, an elderly lady piloting a mobility scooter came along the lane and hung a right straight into the field, where she motored on purposely along the edge and into the distance. No idea where she was going, but she definitely had an air of intent about her.
Last ride now, yesterday, Tuesday the 29th of August.
And normal meteorological service has been resumed - Much mankiness.
Yup, it was grizzly drizzly once again as I boarded Fatso and headed for Idless Woods.
A gloomy day weather wise, but the rain does bring the colours out a bit in the woods.
Fatso hasn't quite got the hang of games of hide and seek.
Some rather splendid variety and colour alongside the main path through the woods.
Heading up through the trees and onto the uppermost path I enjoyed a bit of bush busting where the path comes out from under the cover of trees, and has become rather overgrown.
Most of the Foxgloves in my 'hood have long disappeared from the roadsides and so on, but here in Idless Woods one or two examples can still be found.
Rosebay Willowherb on the lowermost, riverside, path.
Woodland floor randomness.
Not much to speak of regarding this ride really, just another mooch about the wood in the rain, but a very enjoyable mooch it was all the same.
Fatso lurking beneath one of a pair of eye catching trees on the lane back towards Trispen. The other tree is a bit further along and a chunk bigger, but it is also harder to photograph satisfactorily, being closer to the narrow road and seemingly always half in shadow.
So that's it, all up to date, three of the fleet ridden and sullied, miles done, Blackberries gathered, and moods enhanced (with one minor exception).
I am pondering getting a proper waterproof compact camera now, as the couple of rides in the rain caused me a few problems with the G1 X and trying to keep it dry, and the GoPro, whilst liberatingly good in its ability to shrug off water, doesn't have the image quality in dull weather or the control of a 'proper' camera.
There are lots of photographic possibilities to be had from getting out in the rain, as well as general health and well being benefits for being out when normally I'd be in, as it were, so it's something on my mind at the moment. Maybe a Christmas present to myself...
Lastly, I'm still enjoying visits from Flash, my hairy arsed nocturnal chum.
Last Saturday week, I spent a good half hour or more watching him rooting about the back garden and up on the patio. My back door is split in two, stable door like, so I can keep the bottom half shut and the top open and watch him at close range.
However, this might not be such good practice for Flash here to get used to human presence. Not all we humans have good intentions towards Badgers, so it would be better if he remains wary of contact really.
Likewise, I've learned that feeding Badgers needs care. The best way to help them apparently is to not overfeed them, and not to do it every night either. Following this advice means Flash won't come to rely on being able to snaffle all sorts of goodies chez moi, and instead will continue to hone his foraging skills in the wild.
So, tough though it is, I'm going to ignore any furtling noises I hear outside now, and only occasionally look for him, and from more of a distance too. I'll also feed him less and not so often either, though I'm sure as winter nears he could do with a bit of fattening up, so no doubt will give in to sentiment and give him a bit extra once again.
Right, that's all for this post, my apologies for it being a bit rushed- happy cycling!
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