Michael Valgren doing Ben Healy things!!!! Looked a stage written for Ben. Michael gets it! Brilliant stuff. I could not be happier for him after that awful injury.

Absolutely scorchio out there today. Was so nice to have a day sitting in an air conditioned office! V tempted to take a sleeping bag in and stop there overnight. Bike lane v busy. No idea how many Lime etc bikes there are in London... Counts at 650pm (was 10105) @cs3cs6count.bsky.social

Phew. Buddies have shimmied their way through the play off to stay in the Scottish Premier League. Deary me that's a relief. @brismithy.bsky.social will be a relieved man and my friend Rachel will be a relieved Buddy.

I had planned to go out on the bike this morning. When I woke up with a headache and feeling too hot, decided against it. Glad I did now given the temperatures. Though I have managed to clear the entire washing backlog in a single long weekend. Off into the air conditioned office tomorrow.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH That was brilliant! Well done to the break! #Giro

Lots of slightly nervy looking West Ham fans around Stratford this morning. Good luck lads and lasses. COYI! (for one game only) need Moysey to do you a massive favour here. (And even though he managing the Toffees, I've a lit of time for David Moyes).

Apologies to @secretsquidgle.bsky.social if I nearly ran over one of his family members today. Silly squiggle wandered across the road. But I avoided him/her and they made it safely across the road. Bit warm for cycling, but nice to be out again, and delicious Viccy Sponge at Rainham Hall.

Allez Bordeaux!!! Goodness me they play such excellent rugby. Leinster are no mugs and can play but.....

Anyone want to see a baby roadrunner being fed by a parent roadrunner? Enjoy.

FFS! Who turned the heating up?! I came back from France thinking I would be able to just transition into my summer wardrobe. But oh no. But NOW I have to hunt my summer clothes out from the vacuum bags under the bed.....

The counter is back up and running! Woohoo. And I'm back commuting after a holiday and a week of not being v well. Counts at around 705pm @cs3cs6count.bsky.social

I'm not overly given to conspiracy theories but the timing feels kinda "off" here.... www.bbc.co.uk/sport/footba...

This is incredibly sad news. May he rest in peace and may his family find some comfort in how loved he was. Absolutely fuck cancer. BBC News - Scotland rugby great Scott Hastings dies at 61 www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-...

So I've been a bit remiss in updating on the GLP-1 situation. Am now starting week 6, I've lost 4.5kg so far (which included 2 weeks in France), and the side effects are mostly settling down. Still occasionally feeling a bit "bleargh" but mostly now OK.

Ugh. It has been A Week. Hey ho. Weekend now. Hurrah.

Yikes. It is hailstoning heavily just as the little kids are getting out of school. There is much high pitched yelping and screaming. And no wonder.

This was a marvellous treat yesterday, to discover that BBC Alba had acquired rights to show the odd Serie A game, and who did they have along last night? James Richardson, formerly of Channel 4 in the 90s. Perfetto. share.google/2WIZervZoSf7...

As I got on a train home at St Pancras tonight, a woman and her (very excited son) got off the train with a cat carrier in which they had a lottle kitten. The lad (maybe about 8 or so) was so excited about his kitten and happy to open the carrier so I could have a look.

Final day in Avignon today, and popped across the Rhone to Villeneuve-de-Avignon (the "new town"). Apparently original Avingnon was a bit stinky and verminous so the Cardinals etc decided to move somewhere a bit nicer. Oh and the giant macaron framboise was magical....

Second last day in Avignon today. Visited the Musée Requien, named for a botanist and collector. It has a natural history of the Vacluse region, fossils from the pre-Cambrian to mammoths! Fascinating wee museum. Then off to the gardens behind the Papal palace & views of the surrounding area.

@themerl.bsky.social Regardez-moi cette unité absolue (French edition!)

Delightful moment today when a lady at the reception of a museum asked me if I was under 25. I could have hugged her. (I am very much over 25)

Have had a lovely day in Avignon (yes the one with the French Popes). The sun shone. It was warmish. Whoop! Only issue is that the place is full of bloody tourists. (Yes, yes, I am one of them). Some highlights from the Papal palace

Even though I'm in France, it's decidedly "Bank Holiday Monday" weather here today. Le sigh....

Live puffin cam coming soon friends! Who doesn't love these grand wee swimming birbs?!?

It is perhaps rather silly of me to stay for a few days in a major fishing port when I cannot stand seafood! Hee hee. But this evening I have found the restaurant quarter and found some steak to eat. Ra! Today has been extremely restful. Just what I needed. Am quite ded today.

Made it to Séte! Woohoo. 250ish kms and most of that against a headwind. (Humph). Nice final day though but lack of canal really! But we made it to the beach. And there were flamingos!!!!

Today's lunch report is from a breezy Agde, about halfway to my final destination. Grovelling against a nasty headwind all day so far today which is a tad vexing. But the ceasar salad was tasty and should get me a bit further along the route.. was worried everything would be shut today but non!

I have reached Béziers which is lovely but features some ridiculous hills. And as you can imagine my legs said a polite but firm "non" to cycling up the street below... so I walked. And walked up the rest of the hill which Google Maps claimed was "mostly flat".

I saw a couple on rhe trail today who had a doggo who looked just like Felix (of sacred memory). The pupper even had his own panniers! He looked like a very happy dog. And yes, I have been saying "bonjour" to all the cheins I see (and there have been *many* on this trip so far.

Lunch spot today is Le chat qui pêche near the small town of Argeliers. Right on the canal and totes empty apart from muggins here. Delicious duck spring rolls

It was raining on me. On holiday. Without a rain jacket. But a nice little stop at a lock to shelter under some fine trees.... Lockwatching is becoming a fun hobby! Metéo update- rain has stopped. Yay!

I'm almost staying in a chateau this evening though the proprietor and I confused each other by both being British. I had greeted him with my best "bonjour monsieur" at which point he asked me if I was German. Non eccossaise says I. Ah well, says he, I can definitely speak Scottish! Look at my room!

Today I had a tasty lunch in a cafe in Marsaillette which also has this lovely little church (sadly fermé) dedicated to St Andrew! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Am about 10k from the hotel but there's been a murderous headwind all day so I'm stopping for some grenadine sirop at l'ecluse du Pucheric!

I am watching a show on L'equipe TV channel covering the PSG v Bayern game which features a very over excited commentator who has multiple props. I fear for him. Some kind of cardiac event surely incoming. In his defence this game looks bonkers.

I am now in Carcassonne home to a Disney like citadel (it has been extensively renovated/rebuilt). Bastard of a headwind at times thia afternoon which looks, sadly, set to continue. That's definitely against the rules when on holiday...

Easier day today which is good. Am stopped for lunch in Bram. The centre of the village is built on concentric circles around the church. It's lovely. The church has a stunning interior which I was not expecting ...

Today was going fine. Until it wasn't. Will spare the details but suffice to say I am not feeling great and have 4 more days of cycling ahead. Welp.... Perhaps when you're starting on GLP1s, don't push it activity wise. Hopefully I'll recover a little overnight. Have some photos....

Am about halfway through today's ride. Very lovely. I particularly like the amount of shade....I am not enjoying the tree floof, but hey!

Warning holiday spam incoming. I am in Toulouse to start a short cycling holiday, bimbling along the Canal du Midi. I booked an extra day in Toulouse before I start because (a) I got in at 8pm yesterday and (b) I've never visited. View from my dinner table... the Capitol

Well got to Paris OK. Then slight hitch as the Metro line I needed to get me to Montparnasse was fermé. Le sigh. Thankfully the RATP app suggested an easy alternative and I'd left plenty of time. But here now and had a tasty salad for lunch with little vinaigrette in a bottle and bread. Perfect

Hmmm. It's very foggy in the past de Calais this morning..... bonjour France!

@joannarowsell.bsky.social what do cyclists do with all the podium mascots they get? The riders at the track WC seem particularly fond of the lovely bear that they're getting in Malaysia! (I hope riders kept their Heilan Coos from the Glasgow Worlds. Those were highly sought after!)

Also living for the first time in ages is rhe CS6 counter on Blackfriars. Hurrah!!!!!

The Embankment Counter lives!!!!!Hurrah. Just as I'm going on holiday for a couple of weeks. *sigh*

I don't usually post the utter idiocy from the far side of the Pond, but my dudes, I am very bad at maths and I have no confidence in it at all, and even I know that this is not the way percentages work. Because I learned this in primary school....

I am very confused. Today is Tuesday. I was in the office yesterday (Monday). I normally work in the office on Tuesdays. So yeah. I'm a tad confused. And I have to keep reminding myself that I'm going on holiday ON SATURDAY so I do not have the weekend to prep.

Ooft. My body is a bit stressed. Had to be in the office today. Ugh. Didn't sleep well last night and the commute has nearly killed me. Which is worrying given I go on a cycling holiday at the end of the week..... Whoop thinks I've done some kind of marathon. Hmmmmm

Week 1 on Mounjaro has been A Week. Blimey. Some nasty side effects at first, then hormones and migraines. Miserable. But not eating for a bit because I was sick has shifted a decent chunk of weight. Sure there are more pleasant ways to do things though.... Just taken dose 2 so we shall see...