So the heatwave I spoke (moaned) about in Weekly Blog Episode 78 ended… although not quite as anticipated. After being in the weather warning for extreme heat, we were thrust into a weather warning for storms at the weekend – and while it really tried to rain, I think we got four spots all weekend. Instead, on a day we were forecast no rain at all, it has been chucking it down. I can’t keep up.
Without wanting to bang on about the weather for another whole weekly blog, I’ll move on. This week I’m musing about the Olympics, about my mountain bike, and about my courgettes…
Tokyo 2020 Olympics
I am completely hooked on the Olympics. It happens every time, I just can’t help it. I hardly watch any sport between the Games, but as soon as that torch is set on fire that’s it, I’m glued for the duration.
I think it’s the variety. And the stories. There is just so much to admire about people who put everything they have into one thing, so that they can be the best they can be and represent their country on the world stage. It’s always equally uplifting and heart breaking at the same time to see people put it all in. Everything. All they have.
The opportunity to watch all kinds of different sports in quick succession is just fantastic. I’ve really been enjoying the gymnastics, the hockey, the diving, the rowing, the skateboarding, the surfing, the mountain biking, the Taekwondo, and anything else that’s been shown on the tellybox.
Shame the BBC doesn’t have the rights to show us everything (read this if you’ve been wondering: most of the live feeds have been put being behind the Discovery+ paywall, a real shame but I guess the IOC needed the money…); we were somewhat spoiled for London 2012 with 24 live streams weren’t we?!
We’re only a few days in and there’s so much more sport to home… I can’t wait for sport climbing when that debuts later in the week, and of course the track cycling which is one of my absolute favourites – with my thighs I definitely could have been a track cyclist in another life!
And because it’s an excuse to share an old favourite photo… here’s a snap of me carrying the London 2012 Olympic Torch through Lincoln. That was a great day.
More Than Just Air in my Tyres
Watching Tom Pidcock win the Mountain Bike Cross Country inspired me to open up my shed and pump the tyres up on my own mountain bike. I’ve hardly ridden it since we moved to Gloucestershire, it’s been the thing that has just gone away and been left unused, in favour of enjoying all the new-to-me local hills with my hiking boots instead.
I’ve always enjoyed cycling, and as mentioned in a few older posts here in Splodz Blogz (such as this one about riding at Sherwood Pines), I love to ride my bike on the trails. But I can’t do everything all the time.
I guess I thought I’d just need to pump the tyres and lube the chain, but when I gave it a once over yesterday lunchtime I soon realised it’s going to need more than just a bit of air and grease. The chain was horrid, so I spent my lunchbreak today giving that a really good clean and freeing off all the gears. But the inner tubes are shot (green gunk seeping out of the valve on one… nice!), so I’m going to need to get and fit a couple of new ones.
I’ll get Iceland out of the way and think I’ll get it booked in for a service and new tubes at a friendly local bike shop… if you have any Gloucestershire recommendations, I’m all ears.
Whether or not this spurt of motivation to ride lasts long enough for me to get fit enough to enjoy cycling again regularly remains to be seen, I guess I’ll let you know!
The First Courgettes of the Season
Harvesting fruit and veg you’ve grown yourself is so very satisfying. Earlier today I cut my first courgettes of the season from my garden, and we ate them for dinner this evening. Just two little dark green courgettes, nothing spectacular, but still, my own home-grown veg. It looks like there are more on the way, too.
I’m also getting at least a couple of ripe raspberries each day at the moment, which is a surprise considering the May we had, and they are good – super sweet and sharp. And I ate my first two blueberries this morning… There’s a whole load on the potted plant by my back door, I’m rather hoping the rest all ripen at the same time so I can make some home-grown blueberry pancakes as a treat. And of course that I’m quick enough to beat the birds to the best selection!
My tomatoes are still looking very green… There are a fair few of them. Any idea how long they take to ripen?!
Are you growing your own this year?
As always, I would really love to hear from you in the comments below. What have been the highlights of your week? Let me know what your favourite thing about the last seven days has been. And don’t forget to get your One Hour Outside today… whatever day you happen to be reading this on!
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