August 28, 2003
Masochism or what
Our eldest got out of the car this morning. No it would be better described as falling out, phone in one hand, texting with the other and slung under her arm was a carrier bag with lunch and things. Lynne and I worry that eighteen year olds are allowed to use meat slicing machines.
Cycling should be fun. Tonight the temperature, before we started, was thirteen degrees. In the car on the way home it was ten degrees. We all wore shorts not because it was sensible but because it was August. I felt I made an important observation as we started our three-hour ride around Delph, Greenfield and Dovestones in the rain when I stated. “There is a fine line between extreme pleasure and masochism”. The darker one reminded me that adventure is exactly that. He is probably right but the hypothermia thing happens to those without large quantities of subcutaneous fat and he has none of that either.
Anyway it was cold and raining and you might have thought that three fifty-year-old men might have something better to do. We had not, and for most of the time we were doing what we wanted to do and anyway it had stopped raining and we saw another buzzard. You could be argumentative and say it was the one of the buzzards we had seen before. Well, we have seen at least two on two occasions and one on another. I have never seen them in our part of the Peak District. It appears they have returned because of the increased number of rabbits, lack of persecution and the increase in natural woooland. Buzzards
I should make it clear we are two retired climbers and one semi retired climber. Stuff happens, the elbow might get better.
I am forgetting the highlight of the ride. We were making an interesting, great word that, descent near the end of the ride and I was ahead and then I was alone. I stopped and waited no one appeared. I reversed the section thinking I had missed a turn but they appeared. I was told of falling and the grabbing of heather. If you add that to the asthma, the bad back, the ankle you can see we have problems……
A wounded cyclist
