Skelterton Hill

Go large and count the sheep!

It's been a fairly typical Good Friday: cold, grey and now raining. I've never really minded the indifferent weather that usually accompanies the Easter holiday because I'm generally working. I'm planning on taking my break around next weekend. The boys are going out to join their mother in Barcelona to celebrate her 50th birthday, and I'm taking that opportunity to go on a little adventure myself. This evening we're hosting a small pre-birthday dinner for her.

It's not been all work today. I did go out at lunchtime for a spin up the valley to Thorpe and back via Embsay, about 34 miles in a shade over two hours in the saddle. After a month of very steady mileage it's been great the last couple of days to be putting the foot harder to the pedal and generating some power. The fitness is building. The Cent Cols Challenge in September is mostly about endurance (10 days of averaging 125 miles and 16,000 feet climb), but I need to be able to keep the speed up too. Twiddling up these mountains in the Dolomites won't get me back in time for dinner each evening!

At the previous blipmeet to last night's I let slip that I was planning an April Fool's blip and I was called on that for not following through. The weather was too good not to get on the bike last Sunday, so the original plan was shelved, but it was still a true April 1st blip. It seems that it was too subtle for anyone - except Ceridwen (well done) - to notice. Does that mean that it was a good April Fool's blip - or not?

The best April Fool's joke I ever played was on my wife, in the early years of our marriage. A recording came on TV of one of Elvis Presley's very last gigs, when he was looking very heavy and worse for wear. Shannon came back into the room and I pretended that it was a tribute concert. I started to wind her up by saying how ridiculous it was that the audience were going so completely wild. They were in raptures. She bought into it and became more and more incensed. "He looks nothing like Elvis. He can't even sing. He's the worst tribute artist I've ever seen." And on and on she went, getting more and more annoyed with both the performer and the audience. It was a rather delicious moment when I told her the truth!

So ... anyone care to share their best April Fool's moment - which includes being the victim!