I didn’t mean it to be, but that’s how it turned out. And no small part in this is down to Mr Bradley Wiggins and the rest of Team Sky as they dominated the second week of Le Tour as it completed the stages in The Alps, headed down to Cap d’Agde and onto the Pyrenees. And Bradley is still leading the GC by over two minutes. And thanks to our ‘summer’ weather, I ended up watching the two weekend stages; on Saturday as from just before midday the rain began to fall and just got heavier and heavier.
Yes, another washed out weekend, pretty much, all thanks to the weather. As Saturday was forecasted to be swept away by torrents of rain, all I did on the morning was go into Dover to get a haircut. That done I headed back home, listened to the end of the Danny Baker show on the radio, and at the SAME TIME, made some bread rolls for lunch. So, in with the flour, salt, sugar, water and poppy seeds, mix up, knead, and left the dough to prove. As lunchtime was approaching, once an hour had passed, I made into four rolls and put them in the oven.
Much to my surprise, the rolls continued to grow, and so we had four, what could be described as small loaves for lunch. Anyway, I was pretty hungry by then, so after letting them cool a little, I cut them open, slapped some butter on and all was ready. Even being hungry, the rolls proved to beat both of us, and so we ate just one each and left the rest for a mid-afternoon snack.
Then I sat down on the sofa to watch the stage down to the Mediterranean. After a poor night’s sleep, I felt my eyelids drop, and soon both I and Scully on my lap were snoring loudly, whilst unseen, the cyclists headed south.
Outside the sky darkened and the rain began to fall; heavier and heavier. Thunder rolled around, and the clouds were so thick the TV signal could not get through and I was left watching a blue screen for a while. It has to be said, there are advantages in living at the top of a hill, as the rain hammered down, we knew that we wouldn’t get flooded out. However, out the back windows the rain so heavy, it was like thick fog and our view of the village was blocked out.
At least on Sunday the rain did stop, and after breakfast and another stint on the cross-trainer we headed out for a walk on a butterfly hunt. Any thought of going further than the copse with the pigs were dashed as the path through the fields was very muddy from the previous day’s rain. At first we saw few butterflies, but in time we could see Marbled Whites and Meadow Browns flittering about. We tried to snap them, and after a while got some shots, but both species seemed to be very flighty and settled rarely and flew off once we approached to get our shots. We got a few, as it turned out, and a couple of a Small Skipper that put in an appearance. Sadly, there were no sign of any Blues, which was a shame and surprising as the clearing was so full of them last year.
As more dark clouds rolled in, we headed back home for a lunch of pizza and beer, and then more cycling on TV. Wiggins kept his lead as the Tour meandered through the foothills, and the action was even more exciting as it appears tacks had been spread over the course and multiple punctures caused havoc with the Peloton. Whilst I lazed watching the cycling, Jools worked hard in the garden cutting the hedge back.
And that was your weekend; more rain and cycling, and British riders in the top two places on the GC. Strange days indeed.
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