Determined not to be thwarted, I prised myself out of bed at 7am on Saturday morning. This was made a lot easier by the fact that the sun was out and it was a glorious autumn day. It wasn't long before I was on my way in the fresh morning air, and loving it!
The roads were quiet and I could keep a good steady pace. I had devised a 9 mile loop from our house with a 5 mile section that could be repeated as many times as you like. Perfect for shorter cycles.
A couple of gentle climbs added interest and ensured that I arrived home 14 miles later well exercised, and feeling rather smug at the wholesome start to my weekend. On a call to Gillian I couldn't help but gloat about my early cycle, only to discover that she was at the top of Alderley Edge, enjoying a toasted tea cake half way round her cycle - totally trumped!
Still, this was good motivation to get up and out again on Sunday - I was in training deficit!
Chris and I were doing the same route as last weekend, but trying to get a better time. It was another glorious morning with clear blue skies and a fresh breeze. We set off out of Marple through the woods along Middlewood Road, and we hadn't gone very far before Chris shouted me to stop half way up a hill. I did, and bemused, followed his instructions to go back down the hill a bit (thinking to myself that it had better be good if I had to cycle back up the hill again!).
I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this fellow happily chilling out on a gate, watching the word go by
We didn't want to get too close and disturb him, but Chris managed to get a couple of pictures on his phone. We have consulted our bird book and think it was a Tawny Owl. Amazing.
He must have had a positive influence on us as we managed to beat last week's time by an almighty 20 seconds (including the time we stopped to admire our feathered friend)!
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