On the 8th of June, I felt the need to do some miles on a bicycle. I took the Specialized out for a quick 15 mph blast down to Lowsonford and back. It was a bright, still Monday evening without much traffic and I felt strong. The knee was holding and I was glad to be out on the road on my first evening ride of the year.
As I rode, I let my mind wander. I found myself thinking about the things that I usually keep at bay. Stuff that is always on my mind, but that I try not to dwell on. I started to think about Dad's struggle with cancer, about my daughter who I haven't seen for four years, about the health issues that Lucy and I have had to deal with this year, and about a recent personal issue that we've come through together.
As I let myself think about these things, as I let myself feel and to react to these feelings, I found myself giving everything I had to the bike. I hammered down onto the pedals, gripped the handlebars and held on as I hurled myself into the slopes and ground my way up climbs. The pain of riding this hard became a background to the emotional pain of the last months and years. Not one to go about feeling sorry for myself (anymore), I allowed myself this hour of self pity and anger and hate and sorrow and forced it all out of me and into the bike.
By the time I got home, I felt new. The same problems/issues/worries were still there but now I could face them calmly once again. Although my body was drained, weakened by my efforts, inside I knew I was stronger.
More importantly, I'd set a new personal best average speed of 16.3mph!
Two
On Thursday, Great Britain played football against some other team to win the Haircut World Trophy. Or something. Anyway, before that, Jonnie and I met after work to do some training for our up and coming 100 mile ride. As soon as we started out into the sunny evening I knew we were capable of something good, so I put the hammer down on the first climb and hoped that Jonnie would follow. Happily he did, and we kept up a frantic pace over some extremely hilly terrain. Jonnie showed his awesome skills on the downhills and stayed with me on the climbs. It was a superb effort which resulted in his first ever 16mph ride (over 20 miles!)
We then ate a pizza each, drank beer and listened to Sally and Lucy swoon over the Uruguay chaps in their tight sweaters.
Three
Riding with Fast Ant and Dangerous Dave is always a pleasure, mainly because they are two of the nicest blokes you're ever likely to meet. On Saturday, Jonnie and I drove over to Alvechurch with the road bikes in the back of my Escort and met up with Dave and Ant for a 50 mile ride. We gathered in Dave's kitchen and watched him consume cereal, yogurt and bananas while we sipped tea.
Out on the road, we were faced with a bright, but slightly blustery morning and lots of traffic! The route started well, but after about 10 miles we found ourselves on the A3400 heading south with streams of traffic screaming past us at 50+ mph! Not my idea of a weekend bike ride! after about 6 miles of this we thankfully ducked back into the country lanes. After informing everyone that I thought that was 'shit', I promised Fast Ant that I would show him how to ride from Alvechurch to Aston Cantlow without going on a main road.
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| Uncle Jonnie, ShotokanCyclist, Fast Ant |
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| Uncle Jonnie, Dangerous Dave, Fast Ant |
The sun came out. By the time we reached the final 10 miles, Jonnie and I were suffering and the terrain was stubbornly pointing upwards. We ground our way up the hills, Fast Ant being the only one who could manage to talk and do this at the same time.
We eventually got back to the car with the distinct feeling that we couldn't possibly turn another pedal. Unfortunately, in three weeks time we're going to have to ride DOUBLE the distance!
51.7 miles at 14.3 mph.
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