Sorry to hear about your friend Pete, and your mum Stu - hope she's on the mend.

I didn't have a chance with time/signal to post on Friday, but I had intended to since I had cheeriness to report. I hesitated posting this given the news above, but I hope it makes the same important point and doesn't seem inappropriate.

I've been trying to include important people (to me) in my round of Wainwrights, and my mum is the most important. We usually go up to Scotland and bag a Munro or two at this time of year, but she's 71 and been struggling with arthritic knees, and time-limited due to grandparenting, so doing some Wainwrights together seemed a good compromise, and so we headed over to Ambleside to do the Fairfield Horseshoe. A long day, but she was still smiling at the end. If they're still around, spend time with them while you can, particularly if you're still able to do things together. This almost sounds premature, 71 being no great age, and I'm sure she's got many years left, but that's the point: you don't know whaty might happen, so make the most of now. Hell, this applies whatever age you are really.

I've finally just found a plasterer who can plaster and skim to wood 'dowel' edges. Not wanting to chop them out and put in gauze edges...
I had a go at patching this morning but the bag of plaster must have been old ( double wrapped& store in an air tight tub) It hadn't cakes up, but went off quickly. After 20 minutes it was unworkable but almost came off clean with a bolster chisel. Where it was applied..all mess cleared up..

And cheery It least I got more room, the 12kg bag has been dumped cos I've one less job to do..

Ambleside to do the Fairfield Horseshoe.

that a good effort at any age* - my Mum , same age, would not thank me at all for taking her on that walk

* only done it on a bike with an added descent down Grizedale and back up - quite a cheeky day out that

An utterly banal photograph. Of our High Street as it happens.

However, very Cheery Friday, 40 minutes early. Just back from a sort of reunion of my old Bikeability colleagues. Bit of food, a few beers, in a village boozer ten miles away. Rode there down the canal. Back on the road - a strange thing to do I know.

Anyway, there was talk of impending Autumn on Here a while back, and I've just had the opposite of a flashback, yes a flashforward to Winter. Biked home in the pitch dark obviously, very crisp air, cold, silent, moon, nobody about, badgers, fox, screechy birds, etc.

That's when I had the sudden flashforward and the merest inkling of the fabulous bikepacking time that is Winter. It actually made me laugh out loud, as I vividly remembered HOW MUCH I BLINKIN' LOVE WINTER BIKEPACKING .

My most prized possessions, by a long chalk, are my senses. To be quite honest they are a massive curse and a massive blessing at the same time, but they're free and on call at any time of the day or night. BUT, Winter is when they are razor sharp and when the pleasure derived is off the scale. Winter bikepacking for me is a huge overload of the senses. Only one thing in my life came close or better, and it's now impossible to repeat so Winter bikepacking is my drug of choice.

Roll on Winter, this 'packer for one cannae wait.

None of the Normals understand.

Have just logged on here whilst drinking my morning coffee (which is always cheerful anyway), with the intention of thinking of something to say for Yay it's Cheery Friday, amongst all the doom and gloom that is generally about....
And whaddoyouknow, first things I see is Shaf's hedgehog post which put a huge smile on my face, and then the post above from Reg about the joys of winter bikepacking! I've been curiously looking forward to winter bivvies too, and all the wind and rain and mud and stuff...
What a great place this is!

What I was going to say is, CF because I have coffee, I'm looking forward to a quiet weekend at home for once, with a bit of dog sitting thrown in tomorrow night which will involve someone else's fridge, huge sofas and even huger TV, and because this week we have been lighting the wood burner a few times in the evenings, with our own logs that we started cutting and drying a couple of years ago.

Oh, and knitting season has started

This old lady from church asked me last year if I'd help out with this project, and would I be happy knitting woolly hats for seamen (checks spelling carefully ).
I very nearly spat out my coffee whilst trying desperately to keep a straight face, but eventually managed to say Yes.
So here I am, still makes me smile every time I think about it

Latest Slipknot album released Cheerio

Verena wrote: ↑Fri Sep 30, 2022 7:46 am knitting woolly hats for seamen (checks spelling carefully ).

We'll now know who's guilty when lots of those 'postbox cosy' things start cropping up all over the Beacons area

We finally got proper rain. yay

It's Friday ergo it's cheery. Slight feeling of trepidation that the email of doom will arrive this weekend from Stu which may result in Sunday spent peering at OS maps of Mid / North / South (etc.) Wales
Debating whether or not to do a bike ride tomorrow for some wet bog / tussock practice....

fatbikephil wrote: ↑Fri Sep 30, 2022 3:08 pm It's Friday ergo it's cheery. Slight feeling of trepidation that the email of doom will arrive this weekend from Stu which may result in Sunday spent peering at OS maps of Mid / North / South (etc.) Wales
Debating whether or not to do a bike ride tomorrow for some wet bog / tussock practice....

Did my wet weather prep ride earlier today. The post ride shower only differed in the temperature of the water

The “I can’t believe it’s October tomorrow” post

Where does time go?!

Aye it's odd. The thing is my trip round the Cairngorms last March seems like yonks ago and other trips this year feel like they happened last. Time perception is a strange one. Or am I going senile?...
Anyway, whilst you lot are drinking your posh hipster ales, I'm on the Green King IPA out of a can

Wondering how many fags (to the nearest 100) I smoke between now and the BB route coming out.....

fatbikephil wrote: ↑Fri Sep 30, 2022 7:35 pm Anyway, whilst you lot are drinking your posh hipster ales, I'm on the Green King IPA out of a can

Refuse to go near their stuff. Nasty habit of closing superb little independent breweries. Do carry on though .

Wondering how many fags (to the nearest 100) I smoke between now and the BB route coming out.....

If you laid them all end to end, they'd be a percentage of the length of the BB200 route?

RIP wrote: ↑Fri Sep 30, 2022 9:51 pm

fatbikephil wrote: ↑Fri Sep 30, 2022 7:35 pm Anyway, whilst you lot are drinking your posh hipster ales, I'm on the Green King IPA out of a can

Refuse to go near their stuff. Nasty habit of closing superb little independent breweries. Do carry on though .

Hells bells - £3.70 for 4 at Asdas up here. Not got any 'real ale' breweries dominating the small fry up here either as yet.....
Oh well time to hit the Wychwood hob gob gold then

fatbikephil wrote: ↑Fri Sep 30, 2022 9:56 pm Wychwood

Ahem . Taken over by Marston's megabrewers in 2008 .

"We apologise unreservedly for spoiling your Friday evening drinking pleasure"

RIP wrote: ↑Fri Sep 30, 2022 10:03 pm

fatbikephil wrote: ↑Fri Sep 30, 2022 9:56 pm Wychwood

Ahem . Taken over by Marston's megabrewers in 2008 .

"We apologise unreservedly for spoiling your Friday evening drinking pleasure"

The only answer is to drink more!!

fatbikephil wrote: ↑Fri Sep 30, 2022 10:05 pm
The only answer is to drink more!!

Amen.

Reminds me of a mate of mine who won a little contest at Banks & Taylors brewery in Bedfordshire. Had to come up with a name for their new beer.

His winning name: "2XS".

No? "What are you drinking?"...............

For the majority of this week, I've had no significant pain from the injuries sustained in my crash last month. So while it still feels like I'm one jerky move away from pulling something, and I can manipulate myself into a painful position, I appear to be mostly mended.
Might leave it another week before risking a bike ride though.

Me and my son won the local pub quiz last night. I have no idea why as it was Oktoberfest themed. Maybe because I lived in Germany between the ages of 4 and 6

Not so happy Friday for me as I have a raging hangover.

Well done Dave and Jake ... I assume he carried you through?

Cheery here as: 1/ I believe my mum may be returning home a week today which considering we were told to 'expect the worst' a few weeks ago is quite a result. 2/ Just been told project 'asking for trouble' is featured in this months BSH magazine - it's 20 years since I've had a bike featured in a magazine, so quite a turn up really and 3/ the forecast for the weekend looks pretty good

The stinker of a cold I started with last night has abated a bit ..
We finally managed cashed a cheque for £1.02 and £4.64. thinks I Might buy a fish supper *
-Pensioners special to share ).
Funny the other cheques for considerable more went through no problem with the online banking app.

* My son (18) has just bought fish & chips home.
'There you go dad, where mum?'. Good lad!
Right I think he deserves a pint later!

I'm back at work, which isn't exactly cheery, but trying to look at the positives (apart from the obvious of plugging the hole in my finances left by a summer of dotting around in the hills and generally doing my own thing)...

I've managed to get up early, do some yoga/pilates and be in the office by 8 every day this week. Not a huge fan of routine, but a certain amount has its advantages.

I've genuinely enjoyed going back to commuting. It's nice to just ride a bike for 20 minutes twice a day, even on boring residential streets. I never could get into the "fake commute" thing.

Great news about your mum Stu

thenorthwind wrote: ↑Fri Oct 07, 2022 1:14 pm Great news about your mum Stu

Yes indeed

Mine went into* a home and suffered some really severe memory loss in the last few months. It's no fun seeing the ones who loved and raised you getting further down what is probably the final branch of their path, nor the reversal of the parent/child-care-relationship.

Back to cheery stuff - the back I tweaked two weeks ago held up to squash on Tuesday and a training session last night. Happy days

Pretty cheery now, just completed a lengthy car journey to a pub in mid wales. Just got a lengthy bike ride to do now, which is very cheery. Might have to have a beer later