My Cycling Story 7 – The Cyclist, Fuel Frenzy & Distractions

Looking back, I have posted six articles in ‘My Story’ about me, the cyclist, so I decided it was time for number seven, so here goes. I broke my record and cycled forty miles on Friday, which was never going to be beaten today, but I try to go out twice each week, so this week was no different.

Cycling is good for me; I like the physical exercise and I like my writing, it takes me away into another little world, where I tend to concentrate on what I am doing rather than let my mind stray. But it wasn’t as good this morning. There had been a lot of rain last night, leaving a couple of places a little more difficult to negotiate than normal. You can never remember what the surface of the road is like, so it really is a case of head down and go for it!

There is more debris on the road, so the road bike with its slick and very narrow wheels and tyres stayed in the garage, and I got the older trail bike out, still with road tyre but wider and with tread for grip, it just gives me a slightly safer feeling and looking at these tyres you can maybe see what I mean.

It was also colder than I realised, cycling usually warms me up after a few minutes, but the colder temperatures this morning meant my exposed legs stayed cold pretty much all the way around, and my fingers extending from the fingerless gloves stayed quite cold too.

So it wasn’t as good as normal, and being on my own, means there is no banter, no chatting and slightly less motivation. No one to keep up with when they sprint away or take on a steeper hill to be first up. I tend to do what I feel is right, and I drive (or cycle) myself on the best I can, but this morning with road and weather conditions and being on my own wasn’t quite as enjoyable, but I make myself do it. And sure enough, sitting here, showered, warm, fed and with a cup of coffee and of course my writing, I feel very relaxed, and I feel good. Something my wife and I discussed last night, we are happy, and we are lucky. And in a life where there are so many more aspects that we need to deal with, that in itself is a good start.

It was my 12.2 mile time trial this morning, and I added nearly ten minutes to my best time, yes ten minutes longer, but it was still good. Cold but good! My target is to get under fifty minutes; my best time stands at fifty-three minutes and twenty seconds, and I’m confident I will get there. My first effort was way up at one hour, five minutes and forty-eight seconds, so I’m getting there.

As I write this, the radio is on, and I am listening to the fuel shortages ‘crisis.’ And my first question is this. ‘Was there a fuel shortages crisis last week at this time?’ No, there wasn’t, so why is there one now? Well, simply, we are once again being led by a press fuelled frenzy, and people will believe anything they hear.

A few garages were waiting for fuel to be delivered, the press jumped on this, the public panic, there’s a crisis created by the public, because they don’t realise if they just carry on as normal, things will be fine. Their worst-case scenario is they may have to drive a few miles extra if their regular garage has run out. But please stop panicking; we didn’t run out of toilet roll last year, did we? So this one doing the circles on social media made me smile. (Excuse the language.) But let’s stop with the panic; the public has now created the situation by bleeding stations dry. And here’s me hoping to get to Scotland at the weekend to see my Dad, who is starting his four-week-long radiotherapy treatment today. Let’s hope there’s another toilet paper shortage by Thursday, and people just might turn their attention to Supermarkets and leave the petrol stations alone, making sure I can make the 550-mile round trip to see my old man?

So we shall see. But back to my cycling, and as previously mentioned, it is mainly done around quiet country lanes, where traffic is minimal, but of course, I meet an occasional car. As also already mentioned, if you have read my posts, I will always stop wherever required and get out the way of vehicles because when it comes to car v cyclist, cars win – every time, so a battle I’m prepared to give in to before it starts.

But it is the actions of some car drivers that still amaze me. But before I start, my one lesson from this morning is it’s not a good idea to cycle past schools at 8.45-9.00 or 3.00, as it is too busy with people who only have kids on their minds and not cyclists.

1. The driver turned left out of a junction onto my road towards me as I overtook parked school cars in the middle of the road. I was out first and so before she started her pulling out manoeuvre, and so she should have given way to me. If I had been in a car, she would have had no choice, but because I was on a bike, she felt she could pull out and squeeze past me with a couple of feet to spare?
2. Another long line of parked cars, another case of me being out there first overtaking them, and one of the parents again thought it was okay to pull out from the line and drive towards me, again with a foot or two to spare. Again had I been a car, she would have to have waited, but again I was on a bike, so it was okay.
3. As I approached the end of the row of cars, again, already out doing my overtaking, another car driving the opposite way felt it was okay to just carry on towards me. Had I been a car, they would have to have waited to let me pass, but no, it’s only a bike. And on this occasion, I didn’t feel comfortable; it felt like the road was slightly narrower, so I stopped in small a gap between cars, and they drove past. Not even a look, a nod, or a wave, absolutely no acknowledgement that I got out their way when I had the right of way, and they should have waited for me. Their window was open, so I did say a little ‘thank you’ as they passed, and I hope they heard.

But it’s not just in towns where people are too preoccupied with dropping their children off, it is the same out in the quiet country lanes, and here we go.

1. A car in front of me, going the same way, had pulled over to let another oncoming car pass him. As the oncoming car passed, there was a flash of the lights, and a hand raised to acknowledge his manners and road etiquette. As mentioned, I always get out the way and so pulled into a little layby and waited. No flashing lights and no hand raised in acknowledgement, nothing at all, and I ask, ‘why not.’ What is the difference between a car and a cyclist pulling over for you? Not much, in my opinion.
2. A long straight quiet road and another oncoming car. This time there was a bigger/longer layby as we got close, so I signalled that I would go into the layby, which I did to let him pass, and which he did. And just like his previous fellow driver, there was nothing, he didn’t even look at me, and I can’t be missed. I have the brightest cycling jackets on, a fast flashing front light, and don’t go into laybys as part of my cycling routine.
3. The same applies to cars travelling the same way as me; as soon as I know there is a car behind me, I will pull over and stop for them to carry on, and quite a few just ignore me, and that’s fine.

It will sound like I want thanks for everything I do, but I am not bothered; yes, there may be a sarcastic comment if I think they might hear because I firmly believe in manners. But do I wonder why so many people ignore cyclists, both in the physical manoeuvres they do and the lack of acknowledgement when one is done for them, but such is life?

Either way, it is now mid-day on Monday, and it has gone from me waking up feeling a little ‘uneasy’ to having cycled twelve miles and having written this post; I call it a good morning in my little, happy and content world.

But that happy and content world has to be worked at, yes it helps when you have the help of a good partner as I do, and there are other good aspects of your life that combined can make you happy. But it is not always like this for me, as I have an occasional day or a few hours when I still don’t feel right, and when this happens, it reminds me of the darkest days, just not as severe.

So distractions like this morning are a big, big help and why they are important to me. When I wake up not feeling great, my distractions make me feel better. However small they may seem to some people, they may not be so small to me.

But again, my opinion is that we need our distractions. Distractions that work for us and which may not work for other people in the same circumstances, I’m sorry if I’m repeating myself, but that is how important I feel it is. I hope you find yours, and I hope they work for you as mine do for me?

Thanks for reading, and stay safe