Glad to be Alive

I like this image. It's somewhat ironic as Rosemary moved just before I pressed the shutter....when looking at an old plate camera.

I woke up feeling rubbish, with a horrible raspy cough and a sore head. The initial plan had been to head across to Marple to do the Parkrun. R had forgotten her bar-code which is used for timing and I certainly wasn't up to a 5km at race pace. Rather, we decided to stay in bed listening to Radio 4 for a while and meet friends James n Laure for lunch.

After R's short run, we jumped on the bikes over to Marple. It was a bit windy and cold but I quite enjoyed the pedal. We arrived at Alfie's Cafe spot on time with Rosemary taking her helmet off and asking if her hair was ok....Her contradictions astound me at times hee hee. J&L arrived shortly after and we had a very pleasant lunch indeed.

My victoria sponge with blueberries and strawberry was good, but certainly not exceptional like last week's tangerine and blueberry one at Broughton Deli....(Gahhh, what has happened to me? I have moved from being Stoneybank's answer to Spud in Trainspotting to Broadbottom's answer to Mary feckin Berry!)

We then headed towards Glossop to do a wee bit shopping. Rosemary surged ahead just beyond Charlesworth so I dropped it into my biggest gear, wound it up and flew past her a la grand vitesse pulling a silly face. Little did I realise that carnage was about to abrupt.

A car whizzed past me, missing clipping me by a matter of millimetres. "Fecking idiot" I roared, gesticulating wildly. The car screeched to a halt in the middle of the road and out leaped the passenger, a wee wummin with a face like a prune. She was rather animated and aggressive. After a swapping of pleasantries, I wisely asked "have you been drinking?".....her eyes widen like a gin wife. "Have you been drinking ?" she asked and then threatened to call the police. "Please do" I responded.....surprised by the rather strange suggestion from someone who's partner had nearly killed me!!

He then interjected....as he sat there in the driver's seat looking like Ricky Tomlinson after a fishing trip. "Lucky I didn't jump out and have you, after you swore at me" he said. Then the prune got back in the car and they drove off.

Rosemary was more shaken than I. She hates confrontation and she had seen how close the car had come to getting me. I knew that I hadn't been riding unsafely and it was good to get her re-assurance that I hadn't been. The driver's perception was obviously different. Regardless, it had been not excuse for him to be so dangerous.

The rest of the day was rather uneventful. We got some treats from the deli', my fruit n veg for the week and then headed home for a well deserved quiet evening.