spring!

it's that time of year where i'm itching to get back in the garden. this year, we're way more organised and instead of killing myself with the digging and the like i've been increasing our growing area ever so gradually, destroying the encroaching buttercups and generally getting stuff ready for the planting. which, despite our notions to the contrary we'll be leaving for a wee while yet it still being scotland and all.

spring has also seen me out in shorts for the first time this year, not quite sleeveless on the bike but with a gilet on the roadbike which isn't bad. it turns out two of my mountain bikes haven't survived the puffering and are getting some much needed bike shop r&r. in the meantime i've had the rohloff bike out finally for a bit of a test. true the noise of the hub sounds a bit weird but other than that it was all a bit of enclosed hub heaven. i finally got to tackle one of the steepest (and after the winter, most broken) roads around these parts last weekend, not as might be expected on my winter bike, but on a day when the sun split the sky, on the first run out of my main summer bike. it was sublime!

today's maybe not so nice but, after having taken t out for a promenade around the countryside i'll be taking the race bike out for its first outing. it looks like i'm signed up for some triathlon later in the year so the sooner i get get some distance and speed on some proper race gears the better.

big trips on the road bikes beckon. it may even be i can squeeze a coast to coats on the rohloff bike. more kayaking, a new canoe that the pair of us can go in, a bunch of islanding and in between of course, the garden gets to do a bit of growing. i can't wait. in the meantime if anyone's mulling over a visit to the lands of northern loveliness here's jimmy saville