Cycling to and from work is doing me a power of good, though I am beginning to wonder just how much longer I can do it before the ever darker mornings force me to change my route, or invest in some serious lights.
This morning, although sunrise was officially 5 minutes before I set off, it was still quite gloomy and there was also a light sea mist, so it was blinking lights front and rear, all the way to the office.
Whilst the current lights do a very fine job of signalling my presence to other cyclists and road users, the front light won’t provide sufficient illumination to ride safely up the Castleman Trailway, the beautiful tunnel of trees that takes me from Creekmore, all the way to the top of Gravel Hill.
Even the cycle path alongside the A31 has its fair share of interesting challenges. Tree roots, raised manhole covers, lumps, bumps and wonky kerbs all serve to keep the riders attention, even though it is a great deal safer than jousting with the traffic. In daylight, they are inconsequential, but in the deepening gloom, they could present a problem.
So do I succumb to the shortening days, put the bike away until next spring, or make the necessary purchase to allow me to continue? The Dark Passenger, my fundamental darkness, is telling me that it will soon be much colder, wetter, that the car would be so much more comfortable. He’s right, of course he is, but I am determined to stay fit and not reverse any of my hard-earned weight loss, so where’s that Wiggle website?
Dorset is a beautiful county, and the ride from Poole to Weymouth by way of Wareham and East and West Lulworth allows you see the very best of it. Although there is no gain without a little pain, some of the hills on the route are not for the faint hearted particularly the 1 in 5 climb up Grange Hill.
Buddhism looks at death in a similar way to sleep, it is not the end of something, it is a period of rest before the beginning of something new.
In the case of sleep, it is the beginning of a new day. Death, on the other hand, is the beginning of a whole new life. So I do not fear death, though I have no great desire to hasten its coming.
You know there feeling, you’ve got a closer look at a possible problem, and the closer you look, the more nerve wracking the challenge becomes. So it was with my ride back to Poole today. Having done the journey hundreds of times in the car, I got an ‘up close and personal’ look at all the hills on my way up to Bristol on Friday, so I knew what was now in store for me on my way home.
The ride down the other side is a real treat, but then you hit Whiteway Road, and in trying to negotiate a grotty surface I lost all my momentum. The walk up to the cemetery, to a point where I could safely get myself going again was a real disappointment.
If you missed all the signs in the last few days, I embarked on a mini marathon of a bike ride today, cycling from Poole, in deepest Dorset, to Hanham in Bristol, partly to visit my girls, their men and my grandsons, but partly to test my physical and mental strength by riding a distance I haven’t attempted for years.
Apart from being a dedicated Nichiren Buddhist, I have a science and maths background, and I love to know how and why things work. So I’ve been doing the maths behind my weight loss, and the numbers are almost unbelievable.
If you ride a bike on the roads around Britain you’ll know how lovely it is to find yourself on a stretch of nice new smooth tarmac. The lumps and bumps of our older repaired roads really can rattle your bones, so the new surface is a real treat.
After watching Chris Froome and Team Sky showing the rest of the teams how to take the lead in the Tour de France, it started me thinking about just how they make it all look so controlled and simple. Ok, they are a really amazing set of riders, but they also have a brilliant tactician at the helm.
Do you remember the day you mastered the art of riding a bicycle? Of course you do. For me, it was the culmination of a rather lengthy, and very frustrating process, and but for the perseverance of my father, I might never have learned at all.
The Search For Enlightenment 
Recents Comments