Well now, while it appears that summer is in full swing back in Oregon, the weather here in Scotland is still stuck somewhere in spring, or maybe winter. For now, we are trying our best to think summery thoughts without depressing ourselves too much, and keep up the hope that maybe, just maybe there will be some nice weather that will actually stick for at least a few weeks in the next three months.
The last few weeks have been fairly active. We had a nice, week-long visit from Mike Smith, who we hadn't seen since last year. Unfortunately, Ryan had to work much of the time he was here. Still we had time to take a nice bike ride along the Union Canal and see the sights a bit. Overall, it was a good week, and as always, nice to have a little bit of life back home come to visit us here in Edinburgh.
I have been working as much as I can on my dissertation. Unfortunately, this has not been much, since I am having a hard time structuring my time lately. Finally, I have come to the realisation that in order to be effective in getting work done, I need to have a certain amount of pressure on me. So, in order to fill out my schedule a bit and give myself some more structure, I have applied for a position working two days a week as a researcher for the Edinburgh branch of Amnesty International. Aside from working for a cause I care about, I believe this would be a great resume builder for me. I have an interview tomorrow, so wish me luck.
Other than that, Ryan and I have been focusing lately on cycling. We decided a few weeks ago that we would like to try and work toward riding a century (100 miles in one day) by the end of the summer, and so we are currently working on training for that. Also, we are hoping to do a fair bit of cycle touring around parts of Scotland this summer in the process. We recently upgraded to clipless pedals, as well as investing in better touring gear, from camping stuff to saddle bags. This past weekend was meant to be our 'test case' with a 60 mile group ride to St. Andrews for charity. We were planning on going, camping overnight and then riding back the next day. Unfortunately due to bad weather, misinformation, and a migraine headache on my part, we had to turn back about 1/3 the way there. As it turns out, the ride was far more challenging than we expected, being very hilly, and while we had been riding longer distances recently, we had not done enough hill training to be adequately prepared, especially carrying loads of camping gear!! That, combined with my not feeling well, and both of us getting soaked and chilled by strong winds and heavy rain, the whole thing was pretty much doomed. Though the situation could not be helped, we both were feeling pretty down about having to turn back.
So, we are going to make another attempt at a short tour this weekend starting down at the border with England in Berwick and riding north to Edinburgh. This ride, being one we planned ourselves, will be much more managable in both distances and elevation changes, and will cover about 100 miles over three days with some sightseeing along the way. We are hoping to borrow a small lightweight camera to bring with us so that we can post some pictures of the adventure.
Likewise, since some friends of ours are moving to St. Andrews next month, we are going to try and give that ride another chance in a few weeks, though probably by a different route, without the camping gear, and hopefully with better weather!
Well, then. That's all for now folks.
love,
Alletta
