The trouble with living in a valley is that every road out of it seems to go up. And the trouble with living in the Peak District is that there are an awful lot of hills. Which is great. It's easy to ride hill after hill after hill, to sneak out for a gentle roll down the Longdendale Trail and end up honking back over Holme Moss three hours later with warm legs and sparkly eyes... But sometimes you just need to CTFO.
Which is how I came to chuck the Double Cross in the back of the car and drive over to Ladybower in a very mellow, slow sort of way. Then ride gently on mostly flat tarmac and easy trails around the reservoir looking at ducks and russet brown leaves and the sun glinting on the water and the strange misery of Sunday walkers, which is an odd contagion spread by frowning.
And I was considerate and friendly and smiley. I said hello personally to every dog I passed because, unlike people, they seemed happy to be out in the sunshine. And to top it all off, I had a lavish picnic consisting of a PowerBar.
I didn't ride lots of miles. Or climb any hills. Or inch down desperately steep techy things. I just sort of trundled along in the odd October sunshine. Topped it down with tea and a flapjack and headed home for pastrami and gherkin pizza followed by melt in the middle chocolate sponge pud with chocolate ice cream.
The 100-mile road ride can wait for another day.
Chill The Feck Out.
Nice, maybe that's what I need. Something to relax me anyway.
ReplyDeleteYou don't have to wait until Sunday you know ;-) Seriously though, sometimes it's good to stop and look up and look around. That was a crap picnic lunch though, next time I'll do it properly...
ReplyDeleteThink I am doing too much commuting and not enough time for fun riding!
ReplyDeleteYes you need a better picnic lunch, cake next time please!
Pork and pickle pie, crisps, cake, cucumber sandwiches, a picnic cloth, more cake are all on the list...
ReplyDeleteMoroccan cake on the menu for later this month though :-)
Sounds lovely, will await my invite ;-)
ReplyDeleteAnyone who can supply a BOB trailer and a picnic basket is more than welcome :-)
ReplyDeleteYou mean my company isn't enough?
ReplyDeleteObviously, but a trailer and a picnic would be the icing on the cake. Oh yeah, don't forget the cake...
ReplyDelete