Right.
As I write this the water is dripping down my forehead, off my nose and onto the keyboard. I can taste blood, I feel dizzy and I can’t feel my shins. There’s a trail of muddy footprints that lead from the back door to the desk and there’s a good chance that my phone is full of rain.
I commuted on my bike today, the long way round, on my singlespeed.
It was sunny and threatening to turn into a perfect barbeque evening when I left work, for all of ten minutes. This was just about long enought for me to work my way out of town and into the countryside. Then the sky turned black and it rained. And the wind picked up, to the point where I had to pedal to keep making progress, downhill. The hills that would otherwise have been a bit of a stretch on the singlespeed required more gritting of teeth than I would previously have thought myself capable of. I absolutely soaked to the skin.
And I loved every second of it.
I’ve been off the bike for months, probably the best part of a year and a bit. Been out for the odd pootle about. I’d cite work, GF/family commitments, and just general knackeredness, but if I’m honest my heart just wasn’t in it. I’d fallen out with my bike, I wasn’t enjoying it. I’ve been steadily getting fatter and less fit every day, and although I’ve been watching this happen and getting more and more disgusted with myself, for some reason I’ve not been able to summon the motivation to do anything about it.
So I thought I’d start commuting again. Initially I said that I’d ride every day for a week, no excuses.
I’m not sure what it is, but there’s something about being out on your own, in clothing inappropriate for the conditions, on the edge of what you think you can achieve, and doing what you set out to do in spike of everything, that seems to make everything else make sense.
OK, for now it’s just a little loop that I barely used to break a sweat over, but the ride home tonight seems to have restored something that I’ve not been able to access for ages. I think I *heart* riding again.
I’ll admit that I felt like raising my fist to the sky and unleashing some sort of primeval yell at the weather when I got back home, but I realised that would have been going too far.
That is all.
Cup of tea now I think