Subdued

It's been an odd sort of day. No.2 son was off school yesterday with a bit of a cold and an ear infection and is still not feeling too bright. Yet again, we've had to abandon plans for a ride together, so we've just hung out in a very modern way, each of us on our laptops, me working (fixing still more bugs that I've just found), him playing on Football Manager, while casually watching the sport on TV, flipping between the cricket from Lords and the tennis from Wimbledon. With No.1 son on his adventure in Peru, and with No.2 son not quite his normal exuberant self, it's felt very quiet and subdued here.

Some of that is probably down to unwinding before tomorrow's epic and feeling a slight sense of trepidation. This Mega Challenge event of Dave Lloyd's is something of an unknown quantity and it looks like it might be quite windy and with the possibility of some heavy showers. Inevitably, there is going to be a bit more suffering on this than the last two Sportives I've done on my local roads. I'm really looking forward to it, though, and I would be devastated if something got in the way of me taking part. Knowing that it's going to be extremely punishing, it's hard to articulate why I'm so keen to do it. Much is to do with exploring an area I don't know very well. I got the maps out tonight to mark the route up and it takes in many classic climbs that I've long wanted to do. I still get a thrill out of translating those narrow yellow chevroned lines on the map into the reality of three-dimensional sweat and toil. Having plotted the route with a marker pen across three 1:50,000 maps I am now more daunted than ever. It seems to be a ridiculously long way, and includes a lot of big climbs. So why am I so keen to do this thing?

Good news received from Cacophony. He's back home without having to undergo surgery and already targeting the Pendle Pedal at the beginning of August. What a man! That turbo is going to get some serious hammer. We're all going to miss you tomorrow, especially me. I'm expecting to have to do more work on the front than I'm used to!

It needs to be mentioned that Cacophony was without his helmet yesterday, having apparently washed it in preparation for the DLMC. It was the first time he'd been on the bike without it in many years. Likewise when I rode the Lakeland Loop in April. I always wear my helmet. So, both of us ride helmetless on one occasion out of many hundreds, and we both suffer crashes. It seems to be wise not to tempt Fate!