This evening I need to get over to Hathern to represent the baptist church at a meeting about tomorrow’s Open Gardens event. We’ll be opening not as a garden (we’ve got a beautiful yew tree and quite a few plants in pots but it really is just a car park at the back) but as a place for people to get some refreshments and use the loo as they visit other gardens in the village. Jane is out with the car and it is hot weather for a long walk but I figured a slow bike ride would be okay.

The problem is that the brake pads on my bike got rather worn down when I was using it regularly last year so this morning I swapped them out. Being out of practise on bike maintenance, it took quite a while but I think I’ve done a decent job in the end. The old ones were certainly past it – one side had the detailed grip pattern worn off and the other side were even further gone than that, so a job well overdue.

I probably should be making a start on the journey soon – I’ve got almost an hour to do what Google says is a 13 minute cycle… but I’m going to need a good amount of time to cool down once I get to the other end!