I could've 'adder...

Riding in the North Downs today in preparation for the Dyfi Enduro. Had a couple of offs and am now convinced that I need some light kneepads for cross-country work, primarily because I seem to be riding XC with guys and gals that are active on the downhill race scene...

Strangest - and probably best - thing of the day was this badboy (badgirl?). Adders, for those of you reading outside the UK, are a pretty rare and very, very shy snake. They are the only venomous snake in the UK but are known to be aggressive when their young are threatened. I've never seen one in the wild, so it was a bit of a treat.

More about them and their family on Wikipedia.

Absolutely beautiful. But why you'd want to be a snake in the slightly-less-than-balmy UK beats me...