Bang…whoosh – what was that ?

Well it’s been another couple of windy days here, so windy in fact that the picnic table in the garden was tossed up  and over by the wind ! and as for the dustbin…well you can imagine ! Gusts up to 100 mph were not unusual, with torrential rain to accompany it

So, what did I do ? Well I found myself somewhere to stop next week Osprey Cottage in Cromdale http://www.sykescottages.co.uk/cottage/Moray-Aberdeenshire-The-Coastal-Trail-Grantown-On-Spey/Osprey-Cottage-4234.html near to the site of the famous Battle of Cromdale http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cromdale , where I move to tomorrow ( Friday), I don’t expect to have an internet connection, so it may be a while before i update things !

Whilst I’m there I expect to be able to do a little climbing in and around Aviemore, and the Cairngorms, and also more biking – the weather forecast looks reasonable (at least not too much rain ), so should be fun !

I also spent quite a while reading up on visiting Australia – more later in the year, and reading up on a couple of other things…

So, today the wind has died down a little, and I took advantage of a break in the rain, to go out riding, firstly collecting my unusual rocks, then riding along the Glen road, intending to ride across along the Coulin  pass to Achnashellach, having gone some way along it last week.. I’d only gone a few miles along the road, when suddenly there was a loud explosion from my tyre, followed by the unmistakable hiss of the air in my tyre whooshing out, and almost immediately I had a flat rear tyre !

Fortunately, I had brought my cycle bag with me- for the first time on this trip, someone obviously ‘guiding me’-thanks ! - containing pump,spare inners etc, and with much adroitness (but not speed) managed to replace the inner tube, and pump the tyre up sufficiently to get me back home… phew, that was close…

I then took the opportunity to start packing for my move tomorrow,at least I got my bikes on the carrier...before the rain came again, so I had a hot bath,continued my packing indoors, and preparing to move early tomorrow

So, I’ll say ‘Ta rah’ for now,and I’ll update next week sometime… Keep smiling Jotown !