From mid-July on we were at our summer cottage, and I took Beaatrice (my Trice) to the farm and parked her there, safely locked up and indoors (plenty of room in one of the outbuildings).
Partly because of the weather, partly the painting which needed to be done on the cottage, and also because of a short trip to Estonia, I didn't get time for more than two rides during the 3 weeks we were there.
The first was on a typical warm and sunny summer's day, and my son and I went to the town centre 14 kms away. Our Italian baker friend in the local bakery there was very impressed with Beaatrice, especially after doing a circuit with her himself in the car park.
It was a very pleasant ride to town and back, though my knees were a bit sore on the way back, owing to lack of exercise in the weeks leading up to our holiday.
I didn't get another chance to do a ride until almost the end of our three weeks there, when I decided that "It's now or never" and set off on a round trip that covered about 48 kms. The first 20 kms or so were on dirt roads, and my knees were starting to feel sore before I reached an asphalt surface and a country village after those 20 kms, and made a stop at the village shop. It's a dying institution here, and there aren't many left. It's amazing the variety of things they sell, catering for all the summer visitors to the region, staying in their own or rented summer cottages.
I pressed on after an ice cream, and felt a few spots of rain before reaching a major road, but it didn't last long. The next 15 kms or so were rather uneventful. I must admit it wasn't a very pleasant feeling to have traffic roaring past at over 80 kph (50 mph)!
Gradually my knees were feeling worse with every kilometre I pedalled. It crossed my mind that I could have called my brother-in-law to come with his van to pick me up, but that would have felt like cheating. I decided to push on to the bitter end, and determined not to attempt such a long ride again after a long break without riding.
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