As we were riding along

I had started a post on women - my take on them, and my views in general about the fairer sex - but it seems to have disappeared. I had chosen my words with extreme caution and kept the post in draft for 2 or 3 days, but yesterday, when I signed in to finish it and hit publish, only the title remained. I really didn't have the heart to try and re-create it, though it was a little disappointing that so much hard work had gone up in smoke. Perhaps it's all to the good, and maybe I'll have another bash at it sometime. Who knows?

Anyway, in an attempt to improve my fitness, and now that both of my daughters are at drama school for 3 hours, I have begun to strike out for a weekend cycle ride on a Saturday morning. Richmond Park has so far been favourite, and today the freakishly sustained spell of hot weather we've been enjoying made the ride a little more taxing. By the end of it, with my far more athletic and immeasurably better equipped companion barely breaking sweat, I was to say the least glad to get out of the saddle.



I will persevere, nonetheless, and it was truly wonderful in the park when we reached there, with parakeets flying around and a sense of peace rarely attained in this sprawling metropolis we call London. We were even engaged in conversation (country style) by a man and his wife about whether or not we had seen the deer. We hadn't and didn't.

Other prime locations I aim to ride to in the coming weeks:

Epping Forest
Windsor Great Park (will utilise trains)
Hampstead (need more leg and lung strengthening)
Berkshire, meaning Maidenhead, etc (will again use trains)

Right now I'm gently humming, from the face to the thighs and looking forward to a glass or two of Shiraz.