Today’s title was inspired by going to a talk by Doug Scott last night talking about the 1975 Everest Expedition (Doing it the Hard Way). I remember going to two talks by different climbers in the aftermath of the expedition. He has changed physically from that Hippy style climber from back then. He had a an enthusiastic and dry humour style.

Today we went to the Cheltenham Literature Festival and listened to Edna O’Brien. She was excellent and her honesty shone through. She has tackled many difficult issues in her books that are always thought – provoking. Her warmth for her fellow human beings was evident throughout particularly when talking about the refugee crisis.

I did work on learning my stories on the bike last week. I always speak them out loud as I pedal which can cause some embarrassment on occasions. The moment of truth will be in the Gigs this week.