Sunday 19 October. By some divine providence, I’m still 15 stone 3lb.

That two-day gourmet break? Very good, it was.

Pauline and I took the rest of the week off too, but with the weather being so bad our plans to get in some serious walking came to nothing. No cycling, either. Just driving, eating, and drinking. And repairing our leaking dishwasher. Holidays don’t get much better than this…

It wasn’t just the dishwasher that gave up the will to live. I don’t know how far I cycled on Sunday because my CatEye bike computer refused to divulge any usable data. On this occasion my usual way of dealing with technical noncompliance did not work out, as the thing stood its ground and remained impervious to all threats. It has to go.

So unless anyone out there knows how to talk to intransigent bike computers, I will have to flex the plastic. What with dishwashers and bike computers and the rain, not a good week.

Failed computer or not, at least we got out on the road. Under the quilt on the Sunday morning that had not seemed likely, but at some point after the first cup of tea of the day (the best one) the wind eased and the rain cleared, and much to my surprise we were able to make the decision to go for it.  

So, a new course – or a variation on a theme, at any rate. Up to Crooklands, down to Milnthorpe as last week, then through Dallam Park where the deer roam free and down to Beetham. Turn right at the Wheatsheaf and up the long drag and over to Challen Hall and Silverdale, then back across Leyton Moss to Carnforth. 

It felt like 25 miles. Averages? That’s anyone’s guess. But it went well and, more to the point, despite my gourmandizing earlier in the week, the weight stayed off. Canapes and petits fours? Not what you’d call real food, after all.