The foxgloves are thick but flowerless yet of course - but among them , stretching as far as the boundaries of the wood, the bluebells are also thickening for flower - a million spikes with dark hearts of bud - looking like they are almost ready to break out into a great lake of liquid mauve.
The weather has improved with such a force that it feels almost as if summer is here. And to add to the euphoria, the rare confluence of a bank holiday and good weather - I cant remember feeling so good!
For me the weekend started after a day's training in Cheltenham - a chore that I have to endure for the next few months but at least offers me a change of scenery. The evening saw a visit to the pub, always a good start to any weekend but with the prospect of an extra days break, all the more enjoyable.
I met up with Gary on Saturday morning at our usual spot - the bright, cloudless sky tricked us into shorts and short sleeve tops - it was colder than it looked - arm-warmers had to be deployed.
We rode on our usual route through Shackerstone to Congerstone, up the drag to Market Bosworth and then out to Cadeby, from there Sutton Cheney and the long road to Upton - usually a fast road, this time we were faced with a headwind that slowed us to a crawl - once at Upton we sat on the bench, first time this year. The sunshine now was sufficient to warm us - and without the wind buffeting us we were soon restored. We carried on via Shenton and Far Coton to the Water Park at Bosworth and then back to Congerstone, sheltering for five minutes or so under a bridge from a torrential downpour.
We rode back to Newton Burgoland before splitting up - 40 miles + by the time I got home - a great start to the finest weekend so far this year.
It all started in 2011 - we decided to ride Lands End to John O Groats, since then we've completed a number of 'challenges' raising over £15,000 for various charities. You can read about our adventures here, and also our on-going efforts to keep on cycling!
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