Single In Single in July (SiJy) 2020 - day 14

Its cold, raining and horrible out there. I am going nowhere today. The best laid plans etc.

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Yeah, I recently considered an IGH for one of my bikes. Many options, and the price of the Rohloff made me swallow hard when I looked at it.
I bought mine used - or I might not have bought it at all because of the price of admission ... Still, it turned out to be one of the best investments I made in that field; it still is the core component of my touring bike. And it's that very bike I found it (after sufficient training - a whole 700km tour completed at the time, a day of rest before the last leg, and with only one bag) viable to do a good 120km a day. And, on one memorable occasion (at least), the hub helped me manage a sustained mean of more than 28km/h over a couple of hours, which appears insane on a rather heavy (and fully loaded!) bike, but the drive train made it possible. Well, to be clear, I was racing severe thunderstorms that day and was in generally great shape after another long tour - but I succeeded, I made it to safety minutes before the hail started!

Still, BOT: Though I'm far from my best form right now, I think I'll use that very bike for a little outing today, taking the cameras (two, for two challenges) with me. And you'll find proof in the outtakes ... :)

M.
 
Taken from this mornings coffee run before we hit the road from the final leg of the journey south. The head cold has transmogrified into a pathetic cough and Codral is my friend...


Poppies Cafe in Dongara WA, next to the local war memorial...

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Since today is July 14 - aka le quatorze de juillet, aka Bastille Day - the day celebrated in France and around the francophone world as synonymous with the French Revolution - and by extension, with liberation, with French culture and with freedoms of one sort or another - my simple subject for today is an old French novel - Mémoires d'un âne - written by la Comtesse de Ségur and first published in 1860. My mother's ancient edition was from 1879. Here it is, a book which has survived untold adventures - in honor of this day, July 14 - and the survival of the human spirit, embodied by le 14 juillet.

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The book has additional resonance for me since its author, Sophie Rostopochine - aka the Countess of Ségur - began life as Sofia Rostoptchina, but emigrated along with her family from her native Russia to France where she wound up becoming a recognized writer in the adopted tongue of her new homeland. She had been known to be a 'spirited' and 'rebellious' child - qualities which were frowned upon in young girls and women in the 19th century - and another reason why this book of hers seems a good choice for Bastille Day. She was also one of my mother's favorite authors. My mother's first language was French and her mother, my maternal grandmother, always insisted she was French herself - but in reality her family was Ukrainian and emigrated, first to France and later to the United States, to escape waves of persecutions.
 
Since today is July 14 - aka le quatorze de juillet, aka Bastille Day - the day celebrated in France and around the francophone world as synonymous with the French Revolution - and by extension, with liberation, with French culture and with freedoms of one sort or another - my simple subject for today is an old French novel - Mémoires d'un âne - written by la Comtesse de Ségur and first published in 1860. My mother's ancient edition was from 1879. Here it is, a book which has survived untold adventures - in honor of this day, July 14 - and the survival of the human spirit, embodied by le 14 juillet.

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The book has additional resonance for me since its author, Sophie Rostopochine - aka the Countess of Ségur - began life as Sofia Rostoptchina, but emigrated along with her family from her native Russia to France where she wound up becoming a recognized writer in the adopted tongue of her new homeland. She had been known to be a 'spirited' and 'rebellious' child - qualities which were frowned upon in young girls and women in the 19th century - and another reason why this book of hers seems a good choice for Bastille Day. She was also one of my mother's favorite authors. My mother's first language was French and her mother, my maternal grandmother, always insisted she was French herself - but in reality her family was Ukrainian and emigrated, first to France and later to the United States, to escape waves of persecutions.
I missed that one - sort of unforgiveable, but Miguel made up for it :2thumbs:

M.
 
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