Cruel man that I am, I took a day’s leave from work to be with the kids, and then made La Serpiente ride 10 miles on her bike.
I tried to ensure her happiness by feeding her; she got a maple dipped doughnut from Top Pot, some fruit gummies, a cup of hot chocolate with cream on top, and a stick of processed fruit / sugar, and that was almost enough to sustain her, but the last four miles were hard going, as she pleaded with me to find a roadside toilet or a convenient shrubbery, and I cajoled her to carry on riding up hills until home.
We had ridden down to the supermarket, had my pannier filled by my wife with shopping, and then ridden to the sea. In total that was about five miles, but broken up with doughnuts and so on. The return leg was just unadulterated cycling, but she made it – maybe a hundred yards where she got off and pushed, and one near crash when her feet came off the pedals, but La Serpiente is strong.
This also meant she went to sleep quickly tonight, which was a boon, as I was tired from all the cycling. Destroyer, having done nothing more strenuous than sit on the back of the bike and then help build a sandcastle, took over an hour to settle. Then I lay down on the sofa, legs sore from the cycling plus going for a run today, and watched the amusingly terrible Birds Of Prey.
And so to bed. Tomorrow, an extravaganza of Blood Bowl – 4 games before 2pm, and then 3 more on Sunday. My mind may snap somewhere along the way…