Getting there

Yesterday I had to work.

It was a beautiful day, the FA cup was on, and the boys had gone sailing, but when you run you run your own business sometimes its easier to accept that a day with no interuptions is going to be the easiest way to get the office moved, the IT working etc.

So I took advantage and planned a ride after work. I had thought 25 miles, but my husband, quite rightly, pointed out that I am not used to the bike and that starting with less was more likely to keep me out of trouble.

Accepting the reduced level of ride, and dressed for the cycling, I thought a jog to the shops at lunchtime might be more appropriate than my normal gentle amble. (Even though it's urban, there's a lot of wildlife around and it's generally fairly quiet.)

I assumed that people were looking at me because my jogging style's a bit girly/didn't wear a sports bra/Canterbury's are colourful (not that bright though). The real reason, it transpires, was that a bird had pooed on my shoulder. Not a sparrow. How I missed it landing I will never know. It was, I swear, at very least, an eagle. That had been eating. Lots.

One centimetre higher and it would have been in my hair. I only found it when I reached up to get something. And of course, it had to land, a big green glunky mass, on the white bit of my jacket. So cleaning up was added to my to do list.

Ignoring the fact that the big finger of God appears to be pointing at me and telling me to give up on this fitness madness, I went on my cycle ride. And very pleasant it was too. The absence of pain is reassuring. Lessons learned:
1. There's something big in the bushes in Sandford (This backs onto Dinton Pastures wildlife park, so doubtless it was a deer or fox rather than the alien invasion, mugger or other sinister happening that fertile imagination conjured up on an empty road, cycling alone at dusk)
2. Knicker elastic starts to get painful at around the ten mile mark.
3. Gel saddles aren't as comfy as people make out.
4. For every steep incline upwards, there's generally an equally steep one down at the other end.
5. No, I can't make the '30 Mph limit, Slow down' sign up by the school flash up on the bike.
6. Cars aim at you on a bike.
7. Teenage cyclists also aim at you.
8. At current rate of progress, the Action 100 ride will probably take me around 10 hours.
9. The worst hills aren't the steep ones, but the slow, gentle inclines like motorway crossings.
10. Reading at 8pm on a Saturday evening is full of people already wasted - before they go out.

And I now have the bug and want to do it again!