Thur 19 May - A Jet Powered Bike, & A Few Musings

The days and weeks are just whizzing by.  Where did this week go?

A week dominated by bikes.  It started on Monday.  In the rain.  What else do you do with a rainy Monday, but go look at bikes?   Not for me, I might add, I have my beloved Van  Nic, my little titanium friend who never fails me, but for KP who thinks a newer, lighter bike with better gearing will get him up these hills faster than me.  Tee hee, we'll see.

So we spent Monday morning positively dribbling at some utterly beautiful works of art and perfection, and found an absolute gem of a shop.  Bevilacqua, the baby of two ex-Giro d'Italia brothers (www.bevilacquasport.it).  Their bikes are their life and their passion, and so my starstruck week began.  

In their workshop where KP went to get measured and set up for his very exciting purchase was a fantastic gallery of their races and photographs.  Brilliant.  And what nice guys.  We were in good hands.  

Go faster jets

A rather fine Colnago with Ultegra gearing was finally selected as the bike for KP.  Blue, with pictures of jets on the frame, it is a very splendid bike indeed.  But will it help him beat me up the hills?  We'll see.  


Beautifully balanced, it'll  certainly get him down them and sweeping round these mountain passes even faster, so I'll definitely have my work cut out trying to get back on his tail as we climb.  Best I get off my laurels and back into training mode.

Our next 'starstruck dominated by bikes' day was being at the finish of stage 10 Giro d'Italia to watch Cavendish make a dramatic finish.  The best day EVER!  And I've still got the biggest grin ever (17 May - Cavendish!). 

The rest of the week was just as exciting (almost).  The barn and the showers are taking shape.  No longer an ugly old tip of a building crying out for demolition, but the start of a very smart shower block in one half and a chill out zone with sun terrace in the other.  Yeh, OK, you do still need vision and imagination, but it is actually really happening.  

And so the theme of our week became guided by dominant factor number 2.  We have absolutely and totally fallen in love with this place and it's people.  We've only been here for two months, but have just slotted in to the peaceful, and at times highly amusing, continuum of daily life with all the characters that are unfolding around us.  

The hills, mountains and raw, unmanicured remoteness of the region all go together to make up the picture, but it is the people, the characters, and the village life, unchanged for generations, that are pulling us in.  Families are still living in the houses they were born in, the elders are just brilliant, and the youngsters, cheeky and all posy strutty, but likely to get a cuff round the head from one of the elders to bring them back down to size.  

The traditional roles and respect, to an outside looking in, seem to be still here and intact.  And it seems to work.  Think back to post war Britain, all snotty nosed kids playing in the street and one man shops selling everything with a smile and a gossip, and you have a picture of life here.  Not a lot of money to go round, and very few possessions, but I would love to play with Cameron's 'happiness tester' here.  Maybe a rose tinted view, who knows.

And therein lies the problem.  This we didn't expect.  We're building a business.  The fireflies that appeared for the first time late one evening this week didn't help either.  

Sian, Kim, Sam & Jess

If I could just pick up our families, and transport them all out here with us, no question at all.


It doesn't seem to matter how old you or your children get, that need to nurture and protect just doesn't go away.  Bit difficult to be a mother and protector, despite the wonders of communication technology, when you're over a thousand miles away.  

Ho hum.

This view?

But next weekend we'll be home!  How weird will that be?!  Back in Horsham.  

Overlooking Sainsburys.  

Wooppie.  

But just for the weekend.  

Or this one?

Very excited about catching up with everyone: Barking Benfling on Friday, if she manages to hang on to her bump long enough, Kimbo Friday night, Phil, Sharon and everyone else Saturday night, and we'll be bringing Sian and Jess back with us on Sunday to stay for a few days.  

Can't wait.

Think you're fast enough?

Enough musings.  Time to test that new bike...