Lush green crops, Bucks
This post is all about daydreaming and cycling. Daydreaming and cycling are both very beneficial things for me to do, especially a couple of days ago when I had the opportunity to have another all-day ride. In brief I clocked up 113 miles. Although the route was over mostly familiar roads, much of it felt new and fresh.
The month of May is my absolute favourite time of the year. We have daylight getting longer by the day, the countryside is looking lovely (blossom, lush green crops growing), often beautiful clouds, the weather is getting warmer and it just feels great! So all the ingredients were there for a fantastic day cycling.
Even better my bicycle continues to run smoothly and fits me like a glove, so one less thing to worry or fret about. My position on the bike is just right, the Brooks B17 saddle is comfortable all day long, nothing is worn out and it’s all running nicely.
Daydreaming
With all the ingredients in place I knew roughly which way I was going but still managed to include a bit of exploration as I said to myself “where does this road go to?”. I knew it was in vaguely the right direction it was heading and so I decided to follow it to see exactly where it turned out. It wasn’t quite the direction I intended and I didn’t have a map, so this added to the fun. It was a step of faith deciding which way to go at some cross roads and I suppose I made the right choice as soon enough I knew I was going the right way. All of this added to the daydreaming opportunity in just seeing where things went in terms of the road ahead and the thoughts in my mind.
113 miles
I have become more disciplined at eating and drinking. On these long rides I make sure I eat something every 90 minutes, whether I’m hungry or not. I’ll have something to drink a little more often, according to how warm the day is and how hard I’m working. This seems to be working and is minimising the “bonk” quite well.
Levels of tiredness seemed to be gradually creeping up through the day which is fair enough. The nice thing was getting near home and deciding to turn off and go up through Ashridge, Hudnall and up over Dunstable Downs – this is a fairly hilly route and I can tell you I wasn’t too tired for that! In fact when I was at Ivinghoe I remembered looking back and seeing a distant rain shower, you know, where you see the dark, feathery edge to the underside of some clouds. By the time I was at STudham I could smell the rain in the air (how fresh!) and then once I’d got to the top of Dunstable Downs there were some spots of rain in the air followed by a downpour.
I could have stopped and put my not-very-waterproof Montaine jacket on, but I thought I’d simply carry on and enjoy the rain, after all I wasn’t far from home. I turned up looking like a drowned rat with a huge grin, I loved it!
It was such a fantastic ride and I remember whispering “thank you Lord” as I pedalled over Dunstable Downs, looking over into the distance of where I’d been that day. It was a special day and many daydreamy thoughts together with some practical things I need to do. Overall the feeling of “well being” is what I was left with – wonderful!
Oh, moral of the story as well. Need to ensure my iPhone battery is fully charged as Strava stopped tracking me before I got home.
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