Wind and butterflies

There is a farm on the other side of town where you can take the kids and they can see animals in real life, play with dwarf goats, feed hens, get pulled around by horse and cart etc.


So we made our way across town and hooked up with the cylepath that heads out on the other side. We got to the farm only to find that it had closed down and they were selling all the animals... to say that the kids were gutted would be an understatement. Sign of the times ? Financial fall out hitting our little corner of the world ? We hadn't planned on this but as lunch was fast approaching we hit the cyclepath and carried on out of town. The idea was to go right to the end following the route of the old railway line that they had converted into the path that winds across the fields. 20 kms there and 20 km back.


The wind picked up, the sun went in, the path turned into the wind and it was murder for about 5 km before we stopped to drink some water and the kids played picking daisies. We made it to the end, in time to see them packing up the morning market, had a great meal of paella and some wine on a little square trying not to notice the kids jumping around like springs.


To be less antisocial we then headed for the park and slides so the monsters could bounce around in a dedicated space, hoping that the wind would drop thinking of the ride back, but of course it really picked up.


But the great thing about a headwind is that it becomes a tailwind on the way back and the sun came out ! The yuba with two kids on the back caught the wind nicely and in places I didn't even have to pedal... like a sail boat, stopped once for water and biscuits, and watched as a series of at least a dozen bikes made by Giant went by. All different vintages, shapes and sizes. Strange.


We must have been three time faster getting back, were mobbed by hundreds of orange butterflies, managed another parkstop and had fun making our way through town post Rugby match. The traffic was stuck, we just sped through, it was great. Could really feel the ride in my legs this evening, the wind was not fun on the way out.