If
there's anyone out there reading this, it'll be pretty apparent that
I haven't written anything for a while. And it'll also be pretty
apparent why I haven't.
But
life is good again. In fact, it's simply amazing - I just can't
remember when I last felt this good and when I felt so positive about
the future.
When
I say I feel good of course I mean that the aches and pains I have
are good aches and pains. You see I rode my bike yesterday, maybe a
little too far in view of my still some-way-to-go fitness. My right
knee hurts, and all of my left leg hurts. And my neck, my buttocks,
and my right hand - but these are the types of pain I like to feel!
Yesterday
was my first ride after returning from six weeks in Spain. I'll write
about that another time because just now I want to focus on
yesterday.
I
set out into wind-less Spring freshness, and before I'd ridden ten
metres I was overwhelmed by birdsong. I rode to Newtown where I met
up with a Sky Breeze ride led ably by a lovely woman called Jackie.
With two other girls (both a good deal younger than Jackie and I) we
set off uphill, on a main road which on Sunday at least, is
relatively free of traffic. I fought to stay on, but Jackie looked
after me, riding beside me at all times. We had tea in a charming
community cafe and then we set off up onto open moors toward a
moorland watershed, and I place I just love. It was a simply lovely
road, which I wouldn't have known about but for Jackie's willingness
to take on the responsibility of leading others.
There
I said goodbye to the girls, to ride home my own way. It was so
beautiful in the crisp sunshine, with the cacophony of birdsong and
swooping, courting skylarks, that I had to stop after a short while.
I dug out my slightly crushed sandwich and ate it by the roadside.
This,
as if I didn't know, is why I love cycling - my bike takes me to
places that a car can only separate you from. My bike puts me in the
land, without that sterilising layer of glass and metal.
I
feel like the old me now, and I am back on track. Summer is just
around the corner and I can't wait.
