Use It Or Lose It

Regrettably time is short, so I have to turn down L. 'Use it or lose it' L tells me, which makes me sound like the local telephone box. Later.

Bike. I try my new route again. It's a 1.5km longer but only takes about three minutes more because there's no Asda roundabout, no Raynesway roundabout and no bridge over the A52 but already I'm nostalgic for my old route. the new one’s not exactly pretty, it goes past a lot of factories, the road surface is really grimy, there’s lots of lorries and I had to stop at the railway crossing this morning.

I also used the heart rate monitor again with much more success, now that I know that, like a lot of good things, it works better when wet. 155 maximum, 137 average. Is that good? I've no idea.

No one overtook me today and no women to flash my lycra at but as usual plenty of drongos. I did have fun tailing a chap along the cycle path, he looked a serious cyclist but he’d got a huge saddle bag on one side of his bike, which seemed to make it lean quite alarmingly. Don’t how he managed to keep it all upright in the wind.

It's less fun on the way home because there are not one but two attempts on my life. Firstly coming through Spondon I suddenly spot a drongo on a MTB coming towards me at 90 degrees across the line of traffic. He lurches in front of me, I brake, skid but hold it together and avoid hitting him. He cycles off down the road, as if nothing had happened. Bobble hat, no helmet obviously and no lights either. I assume he also had headphones on but didn’t get chance to check. After I had regained my composure I catch him and overtake him. I think about berating him but decide not to, riding like that; he’ll be flattened before the years out in any case.

Then to cap it all when I’m descending into Risley, head down, battling the wind. I see a flash of yellow and look up just in time to see a runner in a yellow bib coming towards me in the cycle lane, again no lights, we even light our collie when we run. Again I swerve at the last minute and just miss him. Pillock, didn’t he think of getting out of my way, he must have seen my lights. His bib is only good when it’s got car lights to illuminate it.

Get home and have a freaky experience with L. She bites on some seed or something and a horrible blister appears inside her mouth. This takes the edge off my warm down but 'use it or lose it'...

Later, we walk to Beeston and I have four pints at Scottish night, as its St. Andrews Day today.