Resting Up

Day two of our well earned rest from cycling after three weeks of daily spinning and peddling with distances up to 65 miles.    Whilst this is no record in terms of the miles covered the weight we are pulling does nothing to increase the speed.     We make progress and we are on schedule.   After this time though it feels odd not to be on the road.      Our bodies do  need the time to recuperate.  At least mine does. Not being as young as I used to be.  Mr. Durrant is up and going early in the day,  07.30  Producing another masterpiece of a video blog is his aim for the day.   Funnily enough his bedroom has become the editing suite.   Quite how much time he is dozing up there I will never know. I got on with catching up on school business; calls and paperwork which has been sent to me at various stops.   I took a gentle walk to the Stoke Golding and passed the blue plaque on a wall marking the spot where Henry VII was crowned King following his victory over Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. The site of the battle is close by and we will be cycling past it on our way further  north. Always good to take in a little history as we travel across the country. Maybe instead of elections we should return to having full blown battles to decide who should govern.  Cameron against Milliband. What role would Farage and Clegg take in the battle?     Back to the cottage and sorting out for the evening show to be held in the village hall.     The artiste needed to  change his guitar strings and practice.    One minute he was playing away in the living room fully concentrating on his scales and the next he was flat out on the settee.  Whatever it takes!       At 16.00 we loaded our bikes for the one mile ride to the venue.  All felt good in the nether regions.    Progress for setting up the show was carried out alongside the ballet class that takes place there in the late afternoon.   I resisted the temptation to join in.  I had not brought my tutu. It has become apparent that we have an intermittent fault with one of my lights.     I am doing all I can as the lighting technician to nurse it through the shows.  A little knowledge is dangerous.    Sue cooked us a lovely meal before the show. The performance  started on time at 20.00 and Richard was, as usual,  on fine form and the sold out audience gave him a great welcome and reception.    During the interval sales of the new cd were more than steady. I was slightly upset when a lady approached me to complain about the lights not picking out the artiste enough.   I was about to take this comment to heart when she added that she was partially blind so I did not feel too bad in the end.    I tried to explain that the whole light show is carried on our bikes and backpacks. Furthermore, I patiently explained to her, the colour was all part of the presentation of the artiste in all his playing glory! I am not so sure that she understood where I was coming from.   Meanwhile on the M1 Louise and Felix were battling north to join us for the weekend.   What we had not remembered in our touring bubble was that it was a bank holiday weekend.   By the time we had finished packing away they had still not arrived. Starting to panic a little the maestro left the venue on his bike in search of his family.    Very quickly they were reunited in the car park of the venue and all was well.  Touching.  Sadly we were not able to join one of the tables to enjoy a piece of guiness  chocolate  cake, my favourite,  with them as we ran out of time. Very kindly the ladies plated some up for us to take home.      A short ride back to the cottage by the canal and  so to bed.