Weather Change

Big Change (much better)

I had great fun at the ICC Birthday Party last night. Caught up with some of my mates I've not seen much of recently, and also met some new people. It was fantastic to witness all the enthusiasm. There is a terrific buzz within the club. Just a year after it was formed following a meeting at a pub, there are now over 700 members and we think we are the biggest club in the entire country!

We have no formal home, but the rugby club has been adopted as the venue for events, and the Taps is the adopted pub for informal post ride get-togethers. But in a way we do have a clubroom, albeit a virtual one, on Facebook. The club site there functions as a place where people can drop in for a chat, post up news, share a bit of banter. It's become, I think, the glue that holds the club together and has made a significant contribution to its rapid growth. I hadn't embraced Facebook until then, but I've become quite a fan now. It just requires an element of discipline not to have it open too often!

I've been a bit out of sorts today and have not been entirely sure why. It could be the change in the weather. I cycled in this morning via Askwith, Otley, Farnley and Pool, and then via the Chevin to Guiseley, about 20 miles in all, almost all in grey and misty weather - but not the kind of mist that was particularly conducive to photography. I was hoping the sun would make an apperance, but it stubbornly refused to come out - as it usually does for me! Once at the desk, though, the skies cleared and it was beautiful again. I popped out for a walk lunchtime in a T-shirt and was shocked to find how much the temperature had dropped from yesterday. It was probably still warm for Match, but it felt distinctly chilly in the wind.

Cycling home the clouds began to roll in again, and the sky was changing, cumulus beginning to replace the pretty cirrus clouds that appeared in the afternoon. As I write this now, just as it's getting dark, the clouds are looking quite serious, for the first time in well over a week. I think it's goodbye to summer for a while. It was great while it lasted. From a personal point of view it may not be a bad thing. My legs were feeling rather jaded on the bike today. I think need a little break.

This was shot was taken cycling back this evening on the moor road with the sun breaking through an increasingly dramatic sky. The eagle-eyed may recognise The Catapult Tree.

STOP PRESS: I have my first nephew - after a run of five nieces! My youngest brother Darren and his wife Kindreth brought Jake into the world today, their first born. They are all doing really well. Congratulations guys.