Whilst I was out wasting yet another day riding round in circles like a small child on Saturday, I spent a bit of time thinking. Now that's not particularly unusual (shut up at the back), there's plenty of time to spare when your sat for 10 hours peddling along, and letting your mind wander a bit helps to pass the time. I've thought about numerous things over the years, I've solved all sorts of problems, I've come up with all sorts of ideas, some of them good, some not so, and I've pondered everything from the creation of the universe to where Bumble Bees go in the winter. What set this weeks pondering's apart from the normal drivel is the thought of what a brilliant invention the Bicycle must have been when they first came up with the idea. Now, on modern roads it's no problems to cover some ridiculous distances. Indeed, I did 127 miles on Saturday with no real problems. I set off from Stockbridge, headed up to the North of Salisbury, before looping round towards Shaftesbury. Had a bit of a detour across the top of the New Forest, before heading down towards Hambledon (where I stopped for an Ice Cream) and then headed back to the start via Winchester. And a great day out it was too, but what's that got to do with the bicycle being a brilliant invention? Well, you can walk 20 miles in a day without any real problems and if you want to get there a bit quicker you could run the same distance. The problem with that, is that doing it over multiple days is quite hard going and if you've got any baggage, then it's really hard work. Not ideal if you want to pop over to see Aunt Mabel for your summer holidays. You could get yourself a horse, but that's actually an even worse idea. Not only will you probably get bitten or trampled to death within the first 10 minutes, but horses are actually pretty inefficient. People evolved as hunter gatherers and as we evolved our best method of hunting was to just chase things until they fell over from exhaustion. In many cases, especially if we work together, we can outrun a horse over a long distance, require less fuel (food) to do so and don't tend to bite! If you don't believe me see what Google throws up, that will be a couple of hours of you life you wont get back! But the Bicycle, well that's a whole new ball game in the evolution of travel. Not only do you have mechanical advantage, but you've got a nice comfy seat and somewhere to hang you baggage without sticking it in a big bag on your back or pushing it in a wheelbarrow. The distance you can cover, even on the rubbish roads of the time (not that there much better now), are quite phenomenal compared to walking. Suddenly your summer holiday in Cleethorpes looks achievable, without having to spend your entire holiday allowance walking there and back. It's cheap too, you don't need fancy shoes, you don't need a stable to keep it in, it wont bite you when your not looking, and you don't need any real ability to master it. All you need is a few pies, the odd jam butty, a bit of imagination and the worlds your oyster. Dating that attractive lady in the next village, a bit of a problem if you've got to walk there, you'll need to come home before you get there. It's only 20 minutes on your bike though, leaving plenty of time for a quick fumble in the Dahlias. A quick jaunt down to Bridport for Fish and Chips by the seaside. It would take you 2 weeks to walk there and back, it's just an easy weekend away on your bicycle though. Always late for work as its an hours walk away. Not a problem, get yourself a bike and you can have an extra 40 Minutes in bed every day! See, its a brilliant invention and not only that, it's bought joy and delight to just about every child that's ever mastered the skill. Have you ever seen a child look unhappy when they're speeding along outrunning their parents, going faster than they've ever been before? I suspect not. And you know what, I'm no child, but feeling the wind in you face, hearing the sound of the tyres as they flow over the pothole riddled roads and feeling the exhilaration of flying along under your own steam, never fails to bring a smile to my face too! So, in my humble opinion, as a means of getting around and making you smile, the bicycles got to be the best invention ever! I thought that whilst I was out, I might as well make a weekend of it, so stayed out in the van Saturday night ready for a spot of running Sunday morning, and to be honest with you, I'm glad that I did. It was one of those still, cloudless nights, and when I turned in the stars where shining brightly, resulting in a slight delay to bed time due to half an hour of staring at the sky. More than worth the loss of 30 minutes in bed in my opinion.
The clear and still night continued into the dawn and Sunday morning greeted my weary running legs with a day well worth getting out of bed for. The cobwebs glistened in the early morning dew and the mist rose slowly from the River Test as the sun gained the upper hand over the chill of the night. A great morning for running! I didn't push too hard, or far, knowing that I've hopefully got bigger plans for next weekend, although we will have to wait and see what the week brings on the Coronovirus front before we know how things are going to play out. I still managed a steady 10 miles though, with some lovely glimpses of the Test and a great view out over the Hampshire countryside from the one high point of the run. There's not much else to report on for Sunday. There's been no progress on my winter project due to an acute shortage of bricks! And I'm pretty sure your not overly interested in window cleaning, which is what filled part of my afternoon. I do like a nice clean window though, and there's no point in having windows if you can't see out of them! Fingers crossed it will be a return to organised running next weekend for the first time since March, so I'll have something more interesting to write about for a change. Watch this space and keep your fingers crossed.
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Paul PerrattOld enough to know better, young enough to still feel invincible, stupid enough to keep on trying the same thing again and again. Cyclist, Gardener, Runner, Hiker, Cook, Woodworker, Engineer, Jack of all trades and master of none, Anti social old git and all round miserable bugger. Archives
March 2024
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