DIY

It being a lovely morning and with the toilet refurbishment project on John's mind he decided we should make the most of things whilst we still could and get out on our bikes.  We decided to cycle to Fitos's and back again but via a slightly different route.

I had pulled a muscle or twinged something yesterday at pickleball so we agreed to take it gently and we set off to Inea and then remembered that the Garmin was still in the cupboard so we still wouldn't know how far we managed to cover - nothing like the hardened cyclists we know like Paul Dionysiou of Akamas Mountain Bike Tours who thinks nothing of being in the saddle for most of the day and covering most of the island on a 'training run' or Susan Read who goes out twice a day for about 20Km each time 'just for fun' and that is why I prefer that just John and I go out together because I am only letting him down if I wimp out or whinge.  To be fair even with it being just the two of us I tend to just see John disappearing into the distance as I gasp for breath and then to add insult to injury he cycles back to make sure I am ok so he actually probably covers twice the distance that I do.  My excuse is that I am older than him and my legs are shorter and my lungs smaller so I would never be able to keep up!!!  Just occasionally if I get my gears right and he is dawdling around admiring the scenery I do steam past him but then he just concentrates his mind and leaves me for dust!


I know we say it all the time but today was so beautiful that we really had occasion to say - aint we lucky?  Warm temperatures, blue cloudless skies and stunning scenery - what more could you want?  maybe not the burning lungs and sore backside that accompanies the ride but then we can't have everything!

Today we stopped at the little park which is at the end of the long looping switchback from Inea to Kato Arodes - it is lovely and the view is incredible but we never see anyone using it!!!

From there we carried on through Kato Arodes to Pano Arodes and then took a short stretch on the main road before turning off onto a minor road through beautifully manicured grapevines and sweeping views across to the Troodos where there is still snow on the top of Mount Olympus.   It is not unusual to find furniture in odd places in Cyprus (a) because someone has dumped it there and/or (b) it has been put there as a resting place and remains there in all weathers.  By the time we found this chair I was more than tempted to rest my wearies but we were close to Fitos and my promised 7Up so I pushed on...

I made it and I made it without getting off anywhere and I made it without being a million miles behind John.  There is a bitter sweet feeling in getting to our destination because it means we are only half way through our ride!  John gave me the choice as to which route we took back home - all routes encompass some long up hill stretch - or at least that is how it feels to me but I was bolstered by my performance thus far and decided we should return home taking the route in reverse so back through Arodes and Inea and then to Droushia - this meant conquering the short sharp uphill diversion in Inea which caused me to get off of my bike the last time I tried it because it came as such a surprise and it is after the long uphill run from Arodes so my legs were on their last legs so to speak!!!

We set off with mucho gusto from Fitos - we start with a nice little downhill that John tackled with relish so all I got was a bird's eye view of his rear-end!!!

We had a small bit of main road before turning off for Arodes and that long hill back to Inea and then home to a well earned bacon sandwich to replace some of the calories we had burned.  I did enjoy it - if it weren't for my poorly shoulder which begins to suffer towards the end the rest of me was ok - my padded pants had done their job, my hip twinge hadn't troubled me and we were back home at a time when we have been known to still be in bed so had the rest of the day in front of us.