Herefordshire

Borrowed the cottage of a friend for my bed last night. The place is charming and in the middle of nowhere so I am now fully rested and content.

Yesterday was not without its scare. The bottom bracket (bit between the pedal cranks at the bottom of the frame) worked its way loose and while doing so, stripped the aluminium thread from the shell. Fortunately, I was close to a very good bike shop (Epic Cycles, near Tenbury Wells) where they kindly dropped everything and fitted a new one for me. It was worth the extra 4 uphill miles to visit them.

At the moment I'm having a very civilised tea and 2 pieces of cake (because I can), in a French cafe in Ludlow (GPS not working so will send location later). Ludlow was the home of Houseman, one of our repressed modern English poets. It feels like a real market town, but probably related to Houseman, now has a literary angle to it. It's a bizzare mix of a town where luvvies and labourers stop to say hello in the high street.

Wish me luck,
Paul.