Frustrated Florists

At long last this week I get a chance to cycle in. It's bloody windy but that's the least of my problems as there are two attempts on my life this morning.

First, a woman in a florists van turns right across me in the centre of Borrowash. Well at least I suppose the roadside floral tribute could have been quickly in place. Luckily I saw her coming and slammed on the anchors. She has the nerve to give me a really dirty look as if it was my fault. Excuse me, I think the right of way was mine. She obviously didn't get a shag last night.

Then a few miles down the road a chap turns left across me at the Raynesway Island. He wasn't indicating left obviously but I could tell by the way he was inching that way and the fact he was steering the car with one finger what he was going to do. So I avoided him too.

My good friend Tim Don hasn't been so lucky; he's come off his bike. It wasn't sexually frustrated florists that were his problem but the fallen bike of a fellow competitor in the Beijing Triathlon World Cup race. After a decent swim, he was fetched off his bike when he hit someone else's fallen bike. He's broken an elbow, which puts a serious dent in his hopes of qualifying for the 2008 Olympics in, of course, Beijing. He's not yet achieved the qualifying standard and because he's not going to be able to train for around six weeks while the bone heals that only leaves him with one last chance to do so at next May's Madrid World Cup.



The other way to look at it, I suppose, is that there's a vacancy on the team. So I best get to that training.

The ever-impressive Wiggle have gone and done it again. They deliver by 9am on the day after I got the email saying my order was on the way. Unfortunately I already knew that my new winter cycling tights wouldn't be in it, they'll take a few days longer to be in stock. Not that I need them yet, well not for cycling anyway. However, early indications are that they might be even more of a vote winner with L than my lycra shorts. Sorry hurry up Wiggle. Not that they would have been much use tonight anyway as she's having to work late.

I bike home in a light drizzle, which makes me put my jacket on, which of course makes the rain stop and just makes me quickly get too hot and I have to stop and take it off again.

I get held up on the cycle path behind a teenager on a MTB. His bike is making an awful noise every time he slows down. Then I realise that he’s not using his brakes and instead he's putting his foot on his rear tyre to stop himself. There doesn’t appear to be anything obviously wrong with his brakes, in fact they look brand new, probably never used, probably doesn't realise he has brakes or maybe he's just deluded himself into thinking it makes him look cool. Looking down at his feet, his right shoe is totally shagged; the sole is hanging off, presumably from its use as a braking device. I bet his mother’s really happy about that.

I cycle to the pool, where it's very quiet and full of slowies. There's a group of three girls in the next lane, who appear to be trying to swim lengths backwards, that is feet first. It involves an awful lot of splashing and hence loads of waves, so its good open water practice for me, should I ever need any. By about 6.45 a few of the usual psychos start to turn up. A good time to get out.

L has emailed her research findings on Bubbles massage parlour to me. So this is what she gets up to at work. Very dubious looking place and some incredibly rough women. I think I'll stick to sports massages.

Doggo and me got to training. Which goes well, he does everything that's asked of him, just a bit too slowly.