2011 Streak 128/365: One last time

2011 Streak 128/365: Cycle: 22.5 miles, Time - 2hr 35min, Weather - cold wind, scuttling clouds, sometimes overcast, sometimes patches of blue.

Time for a final riding of our Ashridge route before my friend returns to New Zealand. Just one last time. 

This ride was an important part of both our lives - a way to work out a number of frustrations we had with our respective jobs. A time when we could put everything away and concentrate on the important business of negotiating tree roots, picking the right line on a rutted track, pushing up hills and seeing how much you could let-go when going down. Off-road riding requires far more active attention than road riding and far, far more than running. When you are a bit oppressed or anxious about other things happening in you life your thinking can become cloudy. Periods of clear concentration can refresh the mind and allow you to carry on.

I don't think the power of mentally engaging, physical exercise can be overestimated. It can have a huge effect.

A small example of how it also has an after-life as both of us have used the route as a mental exercise. For me it has been at the dentist, when having some uncomfortable work done - I tried to picture the various part of the ride and imagine the line and the landscape. He used it as an alternative to counting sheep, to get to sleep, during a particularly anxious time.

It also helps that the landscape is beautiful. The picture is of a favourite section when we emerge from the woods to see this wonderfully sweeping, open countryside. A nice piece of downhill that can make you whoop with pleasure.

2011 Streak 112/365: Mountain biking

2011 Streak 112/365: Walk - 22.5 miles, time - 2hrs 15min, Weather - sunny and hot

For about 12 years, before he went to New Zealand, my friend and I used meet-up every fortnight to go mountain biking. Mostly we went on the trails around Ashridge, tweaking and extending our routes until we knew we had found something close to perfection, which we then kept doing, many, many times. Instead of getting tired, the repetition seemed to increase the pleasure. The more we got to know it the better it felt and the more we went out, the more we saw. The seasons and weather always changed and so there was always something different, some new challenge.

For every section we developed our own names. These could be merely descriptive like 'the unfeasibly bumpy bit' or enigmatic like 'the 95 percenter' but they all evolved from things said on the rides, over time. For example we once remarked that a particular section was always harder than we remembered and so it became 'the hidden hill'. In this way we developed our own private cartography - a pleasure that can only come over time. 

Today was therefore a big day: for the first time in five years we were going to retrace our paths and try to recapture the enjoyment of something once deeply embedded in our pattern of life.

All I can say is that it was brilliant. We did all the things we used to do, stopped at places we used to stop, look at things we used to look at. Even the skylark was there (there is a particular downland section where we always seemed to hear a skylark).

Can it really have been five years ago? Time must have passed but it felt just the same.

Except (and there is always and except) … I have lost fitness. Coming up the scarp slope my legs went watery and I needed recovery time at the top. Not good. Not impressive. These gentle strolls I have been having this year are all very fine but they don't achieve much. Action needs to be taken. I need to press harder.