Gospel Pass Friday 27 September

[rich p]

Icelandic House Elf!!!! God - is she a she?

 

[Crackle]

Icelandic House Elf!!!! God - is she a she?

What kind of sense is that question meant to make?

 

[rich p]

What kind of sense is that question meant to make?

It's a lot of bollix, I agree!
I saw the word 'elf' and immediately the Lord thrust an image of Audrey Hepburn gamine house-guest into my puerile brain

 

[Crackle]

It's a lot of bollix, I agree!
I saw the word 'elf' and immediately the Lord thrust an image of Audrey Hepburn gamine house-guest into my puerile brain

See I thought of Dobby, TC rescuing put upon House Elfs in a Hermione kind of way, nestling nicely alongside her Byronesque route description with LD waiting under the bridge over the river.

See, I can do bollix too.

 

[rich p]

Was it this one?

Oooooh, that's the one.

 

[lukesdad]

Am I going to be the only peasant on this ride ?

 

[theclaud]

[QUOTE 2647962, member: 45"]Don't bring that loony singer, she'll be riding a sequinned llama and we'll all trip over her skirt while she punches the papparazi.[/quote]
You have no idea how close you are to the truth...

 

[srw]

I hear they do really good frozen puddings.

(And before TC asks - no, though I'd love to, especially since there's rather a fantastic theme tune. Leadership training followed by Pompeii and Herculaneum at the British Museum.)

 

[dellzeqq]

Icelandic House Elf!!!! God - is she a she?

she is, and she has rabbits

 

[dellzeqq]

and hay bales

 

[dellzeqq]

and crinkly tin

 

[lukesdad]

Just found out no school club on Fridays and with LM away I'm pretty much scuppered for this I'm afraid.

 

[dellzeqq]

View attachment 29059

the bike considered the view. It was, as Welsh views go, decent enough. A little light on contrast. One couldn't complain, though. The browny-purpley bits would catch the morning sun, on those mornings that had sun, and, on the mornings, those more typical mornings, that soft rain came in from the southwest, a sweetness would drift up from the valley, a sweetness that a even a bike would appreciate.

The bike settled down. There was plenty of time to take it all in. Given the lack of traffic and the general antipathy toward cycling in this part of the world, she (or he - gender is self-determined in the bicycle realm, and this bike had not given it a lot of thought) might be here for a while. Better get used to it, and accustom oneself to the prospect of longer nights and colder days. All in all, weather wasn't a bad thing - one's tyres wouldn't stand drifting snow for ever, and the chain would slacken, but, compared to the depredations that time wrought on the soft flesh of humans, bikes fared well enough..

The stillness appealed. All that rushing around, straining up hills and screaming down the other side was wearing on one's spokes. The bike both recognised and appreciated talent, and Claudine's handling skills were far better than those of the callow youth who, on the receipt of his first car, had thrown the bike in to a skip, but she was a bit of a 'scorcher'. The bike knew that things could have been far worse - consider the prospect of being ridden from one end of the country to the other by some jug-eared loon intent only on a place in the annals of what passes for fame in (dread word) Audaxing. Or, worse still, having one's gears stripped off and being turned in to a 'fixie' with components dredged from decades past and (here, one might allow oneself just a hint of snobbery) 'retro' cranks with cotter pins.

The bike gave no great thought to the fate of his or her owner. Some dreadful pun about 'going around the bend'. Really! The police box thing was a puzzle though. Eccentric clothing, a chap who was clearly some kind of medic, and references to 'popping down to Cardiff sometime yesterday' - all of which was odd, but, then again, humans beings were odd. One just had to get on with life.

Then - excitement beyond compare. Another bike, undoubtedly masculine, slender, like its rider, formed of complex tubing. The 'master section'! Sweet black laquer, divinely light components and geometry that stirred one down to one's bottom bracket. And then others less distinguished, a mix of aluminium, carbon and grumpy old steel. They rolled by one after another, the humans on the saddles barely remarking on the scorch marks on the verge left by dry ice. And after that...........quietness. The bike settled down, once again, to admire the view............

 

[StuAff]

And then others no less distinguished, a mix of aluminium, carbon and grumpy old steel.

FTFY.

 

[frank9755]

Hope the ride goes well.
I'd love to have joined as it looks like an excellent route, and I've wanted to do the Gospel Pass since seeing Claud's write-up on it last year. But flights were booked a while ago for a long weekend in Germany then so not to be. I've ridden a bit around Abergavenny / Hereford this summer and it is very scenic with light traffic even on the A roads. It's just a shame it rains all the time ;-)