"Is something wrong?" she said
Of course there is
"You're still alive," she said
And do I deserve to be?
Is that the question?
And if so..who answers...?
I'm still alive .*
I've had another few weeks of debating whether or not I'm ill .
Went out the other week with Tony . Just a local ride , for local people . I'd woken with a sore throat , but , you know how it is , went anyway .
When I got home I was absolutely drained . Really feeling off .
During that week the throat went onto the chest . A bit . I dunno , I decided to not go out midweek/eve , as I'd intended , and by the following weekend I felt mostly better . Still a bit loose in the chest . Greenies .
Last week Tony couldnt do Sunday ( or this week ), along with most everyone else , so I said I'd do Saturday .
The weather forecast clinched it for me . It was nice and sunny . We did a ' basic ' Rivi and back , and it was OK .
Midweek the chest was bad again . Hmm .
Probably a result of working on a windy corner in M/cr, as much as anything else , but , hey .
So , this week . Rememberance Sunday ride . in case you dont know , Bolton MTN Rescue do a ' service ' at the war memorial on Leadmines Clough . It specifically remembers the flight crew who perished there in WWII . They were on a training flight in their wellington bomber . It was a particularly cold night and subsequently the wings of the plane iced up and they crashed . Obviously the service is also about the wider issue of rememberence .
Jeff was back out . Not seen him for a while . He got to our house for 0730 , and we head over to meet Jon on the canal bridge a couple of miles away .
Confusingly there is more than one bridge , and Jon wasnt reading my mind at the time . So , he's at one bridge , and we're not . A quick call sorted it , and he soon arrived .
Some confusion as to whether Andy was coming or not also sorted itself out , and following an hour or so of canal-ing , we met him at the Rivi reservoir .
Time was tick-tocking away , and I was a little concerned we might miss the 11 o'clock rendezvous at the war memorial .
I'd thought we'd make it over Winter Hill at the TV mast , down Hordern Stoops and then get over to Leadmines off the bottom of Spitlers , or something .
As it was , there wasnt time . Instead we headed up through the gardens then at the Pigeon tower , turned down Georges ln , ( behind the Stoops ) , to Sheephouse Ln , and went across to Leadmines that way .
It was just 10.30 as we turned off Sheephouse on to the last bit of moorland to leadmines . sam's pasture , it's called . Anyway , with good eyes you can kinda see leadmines from there .
Didnt really factor in , in the last mile or so , deep mud , rivers of cow piss , errant herds of cows , and a puncture , ( Jon ) .
All worked out OK though , as the guy had just tuned into the BBC for the 11 0'clock ' bongs ' as we got there .
Nothing much to say about the service itself , except that it's a moving kind of thing . It's not an overtly religious event , although they do sneak in the odd prayer / hymn , and then you place your poppy reverentially on the monument .
This will be one rememberence ride I'll be , er , remembering , as following the service , and Jon's super efficient puncture repair , I promptly fell off .
Proper stacked it . Like a sack of spuds dropped from a height .
I dont know exactly what happened , but it involved some confusion as to which way we were heading , a bit of front wheel lock-up , a bit of wet grass ,and my left side hitting the floor.
It was so quick I did'nt have time to take my hands off the bars ,which was probably a good thing , or I'd be typing this one -handed .
I swear , some mornings I think I've had a stroke on that side . In 40 odd yrs I dont think I've had a single big stack on my right hand side .
( Hmm , I'll regret saying that ) .
It's a bit tender today , and I might give the midweek a miss .
So , we went to the cafe , and I had some cake . Oh , yea . The diet . Listen . I dont diet , but , when I put the bike away this summer ( for nearly 4 months ) , my weight initially shot up . At one point I was 12 st 10 lb . Whilst at 6' it's not overweight , it's still , in real money , a stone heavier than I usually am . When I was mad commuting , for instance , I was just 11st 3lb . Which is waay tooo skinny . My body fat was arguably silly low ( under 10% )
So , when I hit nearly 13 st , at nearly 42, you start to think . In my mind there is a graph . On one side it is age . On the other it is weight . And it's going up .
So , like I say , I dont diet . I'm a bugger for the brown sweet stuff though . So , when I got back on the bike the other week and it was a bit tough , I knew that my weight , whichever way you look at it , was making it harder . So I'm just not eating quite as much chocolate , and I'm mostly back on porridge for brekkie . Bread is fairly back-heeled , too .
Last week , for the first time in years , really , I had just nipped under 12 st . Mind you , I'd been ill . Debateably .
I wondered then if I could just make another little effort . For rememberence Sunday ....
I've not set that up , honest .
Anyway . Blah blah blah . Cafe , big slice of sponge cake , ( which is not chocolate ) a black coffee , ( which speeds up metabolism ) ( Come on . Dont you read Paul Chek ? ) , and we hoof it home . Andy splits off first , with myself , Jeff and Jon heading towards Wigan . I kinda slightly fell off again on the way home , but it was hardly worth mentioning .
Good ride . Lucky with the weather . Just the right amount of toughness . Glad to be alive . Really .
TIM
* PEARL JAM .
