The Rider

43k tonight (Tuesday). 90 minutes. Did the Aston Cantlow route, which is one of my favourites. The first 10k is pretty much all uphill, which opens up the lungs, then there’s two short sharp climbs on the way back. All the roads are quiet, its just you and the bike.

The sunshine has tempted all the farmers out to harvest, so the lanes are covered in mud and the air is full of dust and bits of straw and stuff. Which helps with that nice rural smell when I get home. Nice. I don’t include cycling to and from work in my training, but if I did that’d be a nice round 50k today.

Paul & Rachel came round last night after their hols. I leant Paul a book, The Rider by Tim Krabbe, which I’d recommend to anyone with the vaguest interest in cycling. He describes a race and his thought processes before, during and after. It’s the most evocative description of a bike race I’ve read. One thing we talked about that Krabbe mentions is how, when riding, one thought or one emotion can occupy your mind for hours. Lance Armstrong, when asked what he thinks about whilst cycling always says, “Cycling. I always focus on technique and how to improve it”. I don’t. Tonight I thought about farmers and the cycle of farming. And what a mess they make of the roads.