Philippa wanted to do some girly shopping shit today so I took myself off for a bike ride. It was a chilly start to the day but once the sun cleared the clouds it was a lovely, Autumnal, October day. A slight headwind dampened my spirits for the first ten miles or so, but I had picked my route deliberately so that I would have the wind behind me on the return trip, and that was the thought that kept me plugging away at the pedals when the unpleasantness of the air rushing into my nostrils was matched only by the burning in my thighs. I stopped to eat my pack-up in a churchyard next to a sheep field and enjoyed my corned beef sandwiches as I watched the animals going about their business. My body felt good and my mind felt clear and it was wonderful to just sit there surrounded by nature and to feel connected to it on a real, tangible level. The journey home was like an effortless flight on a bike-shaped cloud, as my legs kept moving as if controlled automatically and my breathing remained regular and energising. Thoughts drifted in and out of my consciousness like feathers floating on a river, and I neither gave them the time of day nor ignored them nonchalantly. Arriving back at home felt like a huge disappointment, and such was my determination to keep the carefree feelings flowing that I cycled straight past our drive and took in another circuit of paths that added a good six extra miles to an already satisfyingly long voyage.
The end result of all this is that my knees feel like condoms full of gravel.
RC 8-10-16
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