Hmmm, summer.....?

So far, this 'summer' has consisted of a day or (if we are really lucky), a few days of gloriously hot, sunny weather followed by several days of wet, grey and very unseasonal minging weather. For the past 3 days, while we have been working on Sadie, the weather has been of the typically summery variety, so we had to get on the roadies today before the forecasted wet, minging variety moved back in. So down to Foix we went, where we met the rest of 'The Gang' for a fun, sociable outing up to the Plateau de Alzen, down to La Bastide de Sérou, along to the Grotte du Mas d'Azil via le Saret, where the locals have set up a number of straw-stuffed figures going about their daily business alongside the road which provided me with some entertainment!
From le Mas d'Azil, we headed through to Pailhès and then the long run back to Foix via Montégut Plantaurel. Here is the route profile Stats for the 77km route are on the usual site although there is a blip somewhere as Garmin is showing my max speed as 212.5 kph!!!! Er, I don't think so! My cadence meter also appears to have stopped working which is a pain.

We made it home in the nick of time as the first spots of rain fell, accompanied by the first rumbles of thunder. The storm has gone on for 5 hours so far. The dog is a bag of nerves thanks to the reverberating thunder rattling from hillside to hillside. Some sedatives from the vet may be in order at this rate, for his sake as well as for ours!

A busy couple of days coming up with some houses to view (rental possibilities for the winter/purchase possibilities for longer term) as well as stuff to sort out for the van prior to getting it French-registered. A return to more summery conditions is expected mid week - not a moment too soon for my poor tomatoes which desperately need the warmth if they are to turn from their current stubborn green to a more enticing and delicious red!