Heavy cloud but no rain my ar*e. It rained this morning when I was considering riding. So instead I went to work, while the skies cleared and the sun shone both bright and warm. I came home, laid my cycling kit out on the sofa and…yep…on cue, enter stage right, more rain. *grrrr*! I was under-amused. I checked the forecast, but since the rain that was here wasn’t supposed to be here, I’m not sure why I thought that would help. I considered setting the alarm and getting up and riding tomorrow morning instead but the mob are due to be collected sometime then, and since punctuality and courtesy are in short supply these days, there’s no telling quite when that might actually happen. Besides, as I pondered and deliberated it did look like it was brightening up a bit, and it’s not like I was planning a long ride anyway, what with light being in increasingly limited supply of an evening. So I decided to go out anyway, rather than stay in and sulk about the fact that I was in not out. Carpe diem, or something with slightly less enthusiasm about it.
I was initially going to do the usual hilly evening loop, but I realised that cycling up and then cautiously down the wet Mendips didn’t appeal, riding it like I stole it was out of the question, and I actually wanted to be out there enjoying it instead. After all, I already knew it was going to be hard work, what’s the point in suffering for the h*ll of it? As I headed west, towards the now unveiled and soon to be setting sun, the roads turned out to be pretty much dry, which pretty much made up my mind for me. Besides, the loop I now had in mind included one of my favourite stretches of road, and it didn’t let me down. Flat, quiet, scenic, sunny. A stoic buzzard unperturbed by my passing, fragile moorhens furtively darting for cover, a pair of defensive swans and their prodigious brood, herons startled aloft…and shortly layers stashed away and warmth on my skin, all with my latest iPod playing my tunes in my left ear. Time for some of the body’s natural happy drugs 🙂
My body was not entirely happy, as it turns out I should have strapped my knee up, and it hurt. I may not have a beautiful mind, but I do have a fabulously selective memory, and I’d forgotten how much it was hurting all evening yesterday after my indoor spin bike workout. But hey, yet another good reason I wasn’t pushing myself up those hills,right? Momentum maintenance is one thing; I can still barrel along on the flat ok, even when the knee is off on one, but fighting gravity is quite another. Always good to have your decisions vindicated 😉 In the meantime I was out there, not in here, riding along in the sun. Didn’t suck 😀
Cycling time: 1:08
Distance: 20.4 miles
Avg: 17.9 mph
ODO: 6346.2 miles
So, did I find myself out there? Nah, not really. As if. There was maybe the odd glimpse of what form might look like, so I might recognise it if I ever see it again. I’d say it went pretty well all things considered, but the stats are pretty irrelevant – I’m mostly just pleased that, however it felt, I made myself get out there. I’ll catch up with myself sooner or later if I hang in there. And I wasn’t entirely on my own. Look, I have a new little friend. His eyes even light up for me! 😉 *grin*.
