Spring in the Ariege

It's wonderful! The temperature is back at a more acceptable 20 degrees and the blue skies have returned. This photo of Mont d'Olmes and Pic de Saint-Barthelemy shows just what effect the recent hot temperatures have had on the snow level.

Fresh green tree foliage is everywhere and the fields are looking lush.

 I spotted these orchids in a field above Puivert during our roadie outing this afternoon. It isn't a Military Orchid and I haven't yet had the chance to look it up - anybody care to enlighten me?

Now, on to roadie matters. As ardent followers of this blog will know, I have had quite significant 'comfort' problems on my road bike which we have tried to resolve in many many different ways. I have tried 2 or 3 different saddles, tried moving the saddle forward, altered handlebar height, tried different shorts etc etc etc. But the pressure on my delicate soft tissue area persisted which has made longer rides quite painful. I was becoming convinced that it was just the way that I was made and that I was just going to have to accept the discomfort. Andy thought otherwise and, after extensive research on t'interwebs, suggested we actually move my saddle back, which would apparently alter the angle of the anterior/posterior tilt of my pelvis on the saddle. So this we did and also raised the saddle up a smidgeon and today we went out for a test ride. It was a revelation. Pretty quickly, I realised that I was actually maintaining my weight on the my sit bones rather than on my soft tissue area for the first time ever. The alteration in my riding position meant that not only was I in much less discomfort but I was also more streamlined thanks to my more horizontal position and was also able to put more power down. Fantastic! So now I have no excuse. Onwards!