My usual riding day has been restored. Untill next week, which I guess means although I think of it as my usual ride day it's not that usual at all.
Endomondo is showing that I put in just over 25miles which took me two hours, I think this may be at fault for two reasons, first 25 miles on that loop never takes more than 1 hour 45, and second it shows my slowest mile was the first one, over 7mins?! The first 3 miles are flat well trodden double track, I was spinning along at a good pace, for a mile to take 7+ mins, well I'd have to be crawling on my hands and knees with my bike on my back, it just doesn't add up.
My mind was elsewhere for the first half of the ride, it had been a day full of weird vibes and unpleasantness at work, I just couldn't empty my head of the strangeness, after riding with rage as a passenger for the first part of the ride two things happened that snapped me round.
I rounded a single track corner to find two Muntjacs playing on the trail, unusually they didn't bolt instantly, they were almost curious of me, it was really good to get up that close to them, when your out away from every thing with just your bike you never know what your going to see. Sometimes I probably forget to look for these things while i'm out, I'm to busy thinking about average speed, spinning at a fast pace and hitting all the tech sections as hard and fast as possible.
The second thing was the sight of two children, brother and sister I guess riding out past grove woods, no helmets, gloves, bags and completely inappropriate bikes for riding any sort of distance. The girl was drinking a soft drink from a can, they were both beaming out big smiles as they headed out on their bikes for an adventure, at least that was how I perceived the scene.
It reminded me of all the terrible, inefficient and down right inappropriate bikes I used to love riding, and how unaware I was of their faults that gave them their character, as long as the pedals spun the wheels and the brakes stopped you at some point, nothing else mattered.
What popped into my mind while riding along on my expensive full susser, with my £50 helmet, £70 adaptalight sunglasses, riding shorts, gloves and top was, take away all the trying to keep fit and improving my technique, ultimately I still ride bikes regularly for that feeling of fun and adventure. Deep down I was riding for exactly the same reason as those kids, except that I probably looked far more stupid.
Reatin rides on
