A twingy calf and ply progress

I was keen to get out for a good ride on the roadie yesterday, but my right calf and up into the cruciate ligament behind the knee was incredibly tender for some unknown reason. Frustrating, as my only exercise over the past few days has been jumping into and out of the van. But we headed over to Lavelanet all the same and rode the bikes up to the Plateau de Sault and on up to Belcaire with the intention of reaching the Camurac winter sports centre at 1230m, but my calf was not at all happy, so we turned around and took the scenic route back down with lovely views further into the Aude departmentWe arrived back into Lavelanet having covered just 60kms but with 700+m of ascent. But it's all good time in the saddle.

Last night I took an ibuprofen to reduce the inflammation in my calf and ligament and also applied ice to the area and fortunately today it is much improved. It has been a wonderfully warm, sunny day today, but rather than risk inflamming my calf again, we have put our efforts into Sadie. The aim was to apply the insulation, moisture barrier and ply to the roof of the van. The job was somewhat hampered by a critical drill bit shearing off as Andy was attempting to screw a section of ply into the soft steel of a roof seam. The number of Brico Depot drill bits that have behaved in the same way in the course of various jobs suggests that the product that they are selling is quite simply not for purpose and is in fact downright dangerous at times! But we have made progress all the same and it is coming along well. My book on mountain biking in southern Spain arrived today, so I am psyched for getting Sadie to a point where we can actually go away and be comfortable in her. Patience has never been one of my (very many!) virtues ;-)