If it's not going to be light enough tonight, it never will!

I'd got my wussy head on, for some reason, and was dithering about going out on the bike, thinking "will I be safe riding down the road if it gets dark?" and "what if it's cold?" and rubbish like that. Thankfully, common sense prevailed: at 8pm on the day after the longest day, it's NOT going to get dark in the time I'll be out cycling!

As it was 26°C in the courtyard at 7pm, again the chances of freezing to death were small [I tied a sweatshirt round my waist; obviously totally unnecessarily!].

When I'd finally got up the incline behind the house I made an odd decision: go for a longer ride - instead of coming back by the road, go up the other steep track to the hill on the opposite side of the valley, and come back into the village through the vines there. With only a small bit extra from the village to climb, that track up the other side of the valley was the only additional challenge.

I startled two roe deer (in two separate incidences) and a pair of partridge that really panicked!

I nearly made it up the hill to the other side, but in the end resorted to pushing for the steepest part; giving me plenty of time to wonder whether it is shaming to push your mountain bike up a hill. I decided that I wasn't ashamed; that's just the way it is, for now! Hopefully, fitness levels + stamina will improve and I will manage to go a bit further than 3 miles in 45 minutes! [I vaguely remember that's how long it used to take me to cycle to school, when I did that, which was just under 10 miles; hmmm!]

I got home, it still wasn't dark, and I think I may be starting to enjoy myself with this mountain-biking lark; not yet too keen on the uphills, nor the downhills, but the gentle slopes can be fun, and as I was hurtling back into the village I wished I had a speedometer to see how fast I was going. Going from both-brakes-all-the-time on any downslope, that's progress indeed!

Enjoy the light, while it lasts.