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Now retired but busy still living..

Wednesday 20 October 2010

THE LONELINESS OF THE 'INCREASING DISTANCE' CYCLIST.

 
ON BOARD THE STUDLAND FERRY
'LUNCH' SEAT AT WOOL
 I have now increased the distance I am riding on my training rides up to 52 miles and I have been managing this 3 days a week. However all of my riding is on my own- all the guys that I would normally ride with for one reason or another are currently out of the cycling loop.

 JD is up to his eyes with a bungalow refit in his spare time and won't be able to start training again until mid to late November.
 Jason has had various health issues and is unable to get out on his bike and is unsure when his health will allow him to start again.
 Gareth has not been out riding with us since he got married and now his wife is expecting a baby in December so he doesn't know when he will be out on the bike again- when the baby arrives his free time will be less than it is now.
 Rick is someone else with a young family whose time is restricted and it is nearly two years since he came out on a ride.
And then we have Neil who was planning on doing LEJOG next year. I was told earlier this week that it appears that he has now lost that dream and won't be doing the ride after all. He was originally going to do the LEJOG in 2008 when we all did it but he put it off and now seems to have lost the will to do it altogether. A great pity- I always feel that if you want to attempt a challenge you should just make the plans and do it. If you waste time thinking about it you will always be able to find lots of reasons why you can't do it yet.
Life is too short and it might even be shorter that you think- my illness this year has really focused my thinking on this although that has always been the way I have looked on life. Think of something and just do it and do it as soon as possible...!! If you are reading this Neil make those plans again and do the ride- you will not regret it.

 Anyway- to get back to the theme of this post- it has been a bit lonely on my rides recently and even the ferry has had fewer riders on board. This morning I was the only person on board without motorised transport as can be seen in the photograph above- almost eerie.

When I got to my lunch stop at Wool I had a pleasant surprise. The bench that I use at the entrance to the village has had a refit-the wooden slats that were starting to go rotten have been replaced with new ones making my lunch stop even more comfortable. Life gets better and better........

5 comments:

Alan Sloman said...

It's really good to see you well on the mend Trevor> I agree with everything you have said about planning and doing it right now.

When I get through the current personal nightmare I aim to do just that.

Sound Advice Sir.

Z. Anaya said...

Hi from cycling citizen in Toronto.
Your blog is awesome. I found solo rides enriching for the soul. They gave me time to reflect about my life and to remember the beautiful/good people I have meet and have been nice to me.

TrevorW�� said...

ALAN*
Glad the 'advice' was useful- it has certainly worked for me with those things that I have really wanted to do.

ZORA*
Your absolutely right- although I do enjoy riding with others solo rides can almost be like a form of meditation.

Anonymous said...

I once had a chat with a cyclist friend that made me think when we talked about solo rides.

On one had I always like some company but on the other hand as the my cyclist friend told me when your on your own you meet more folk and take more in.

I have found that to be true so solo rides can be some of thge best rides.

TrevorW�� said...

Hi Alec

Yes I know what you mean-solo rides do have a special something that group rides just don't have.

Six weeks off.

 The visit to see the Consultant went quite well really ...   My ' numbers' have started to creep up again so I am going to be given...