Ok, I declare my 2015 cycling season (finally) open!  Thanks to the worst cold I’ve ever had, which is on-going and has led to two ear-aches and two perforated ear drums, I was starting to wonder if I’d ever get back on the bike at all.  It was with some trepidation that I set off this morning to meet Alan for a coffee run, even though he’d promised to take it easy for me.

Which he did, which is just as well.  Not just because I’m unsurprisingly off form, but because lack of hearing and weird head makes riding a little interesting…  It’s harder to hear cars coming up behind you for starters.  My balance is a little off.  And with gaps in my ears where there shouldn’t be, it’s like you can feel all the road noise vibrating inside your hollow head somehow.  It’s virtually impossible to describe, but it sure is weird.  All that whilst feeling one step removed from reality, because since you can’t quite hear it properly and you’re still ill, you can’t quite connect with it either.  Surreal.

It’s not always about the coffee….

However it went a lot better than I expected.  Alan nurse-maided me all the way to Sweets setting an easy steady pace, while I coated the roads of Somerset with snot.  Apart from an impressive coughing fit when we arrived, it went well enough that, following my restorative cup of hot chocolate and Alan consuming the largest slice of chocolate cake known to man, we came back by a longer route than planned.  It was a slightly tough call.  Do you do the longer ride because you feel up to it, or do you keep it shorter so as to not overdo it and thus lengthen the road to recovery?  Longer of course!  But judging by the involuntary and rather longer than usual nap I ended up taking this afternoon, I think it wore me out a bit.  Still I’m relieved and glad to have finally gotten back out there – thanks for taking it easy for me Alan!  Hello beautiful bike, I’ve missed you 🙂

Cycling time: 1:41
Distance: 25.3 miles
Avg: 14.9 mph
ODO: 7416.3miles

So it’s the New Year.  A new year.  I could bore you by comparing 2014’s stats to those of 2013.  I’m not going to.  I could bore you with my cycling goals, hopes and dreams for this year.  But I’m not going to.  Let’s face it, they’re none of your business and you’re probably not that interested anyway.  I’ll tell you what I would like though.  I’d like to do it better 🙂