This is Jacquie Phelan. She is a longtime bike racer and mountain biker and is one hell of a ninja at both. She founded WOMBATS, the Womens Mountain Bike and Tea Society and is all kinds of passionate, childlike and awesome. I found out about her last night when a good friend told me they were off to ride with the Wombats today, and am absolutely delighted to know there is someone like this in the world.

If I am one tenth as awesome as her in my 50s, I'll be doing something right.

While on the subject of biking, I must link to something that Captain Horatio showed me, a neat little webcomic about a bike shop called Yehuda Moon & the Kickstand Cyclery. It's funny, cute, occasionally touching and filled with a real love for biking. They also understand the glory of Kevlar tyres .

I love my bike, it gets me too and from work, does the shopping, takes me further and faster than I can walk and makes coming back late at night significantly less freaky. I doubly love living in such a cycle heavy city. Bike is cake .

Today has been a good day; we've cleaned the shed from top to bottom and sorted out all the gubbins in it (including making a very neat little shelter for the wheelchair), watched the stars through some binocs (the seven sisters acquire an awful lot of relatives that way) and I've been out with the fire troupe, met some new people, clicked with the three beat weave and got a lead in on some ATS classes in the city. Life is good .

Now, I just hope I can move my arms tomorrow ...