.
Start the day the proper way I say. Stretch both arms high. Ooooooh, not that far.
Stretch again, left arm,
right arm,
left arm,
right arm, ooo let's stop that there.
Touch toes, oooh slowly. And again, and again, and again.
Grab ankle and pull left leg up behind and streeeeeetcch.
Now the right one, streeeeetttccchhh.
No more off that!
Swivel head to the left,
the right,
the left,
the right,
the lef...no hold that, I'm getting dizzy now.
Chest expanders now.
Puuuuuullllll oooooh, tsk. I think that can wait.
Stretch arms again,
and again,
and again,
Deep breaths,
In. Out.
In. Out.
In. Out.
In. Out.Right, time to get out of bed.
What a morning! Bright sunshine, clear blue sky, slight breeze. I must get on the bike!
Twenty to six and I am off up the road.
Should I go to the left and up the old railway, or carry on and go down the cutting to the...oh never mind I am not awake and have gone straight on anyway. Early it may be but white van man is about. I know this as he has just attempted to reveal how many coats of paint covers his van. I wish he had found some way other than using my handlebars to do this! Builders pass by in painted vans, rushing to overcharge their customers and find excuses not to complete the work while the sun shines. Folk head for work, probably these are the ones with keys to open up for the rest, and factory or shop will soon ring to the happy sound of human voices wishing it was time to go home. A cleaner or two passes eager (?) to dust, polish and hoover for £5.96 an hour. I note them all as they head for their destination, although I would have been better noting the traffic lights there as that would have saved that man in the Skoda using language that does not suit this time of day.
I aim to turn off for the railway but fail to negotiate the bend (maybe this is too early?) and am heading down the steep hill at breakneck speed holding the handlebars with two hands and my cap with another. I can foresee trouble ahead! At the bottom of the hill I pass an adolescent lassie delivering the morning papers, or at least judging by the speed she is progressing possibly it is the weekly free paper she began delivering yesterday?
I grunt and puff as I struggle up the other side of the hill and looking to my right, and avoiding 'P. Grant. Builder and Handyman,' as he zooms along, and watch the sun rising over the fields. Visibility is at least ten miles although the dew is causing a very light haze that makes me eager to stop and take pictures. Summer mornings have a joy all of their own! However if I stop on this slope I may not start again so I continue. I pass through the village full of aged buildings which are very much at variance with the nature of the road that lies in front of them, and turn off into the station (2 miles and 17 chains distance from home) and begin the run home down the slope. Today I am so glad of this slope! Five miles seems like fifty these days, why do teens have all the energy?
Home before six thirty in the morning. Breakfast, read the papers, blogs, e-mails, and it is almost time to do those things that have waited since yesterday.
I er, maybe I will do them later......
.
6 comments:
I lost a couple pounds weight just reading this post. You tire me out! :)
I wish I could lose a couple of pounds...
I thought you lived in East Angular?
Surely the world around there is so flat that a man standing on an upturned bucket can see sixty miles?
I was in Norfolk recently. Having passed through the flatlands of south Lincolnshire, I was delighted when just east of King's Lynn, I saw a hill. With the remains of a castle on it! The hill was about twenty feet high, but it was the biggest bump I'd seen in the landscape for over an hour.
Now, in the back of this house, lies a bike I just put new tires on. I'd planned to go out for a gentle footle about today, to see if i could still remember how to ride a bike. The demise of my dog, ten years ago somehow seemed to take all the point out of long bike rides, it was odd, not having him race past me, all stretched-out speed and eagerness, only to halt, suddenly, right in my speeding path, in order to check out an interesting smell, or pee on yet another tree.
This random nature of dog movement kept my reflexes lighning fast, my brake-blocks hot, and a constant threat of gravel-rash in my heart.
Reading your post has cured me. It's hot out there, and there are builders vans lurking. I'll just have another mug of tea and try write a blogpost instead.
Surely you are a man I should have much more respect for. For you do more before you even get out of bed than I do all day.
Yes, as a matter of fact, I am having quite a time of it at the moment, but I should be back to my snotty old self soon enough. Thank you for your concern in advance.
Soub, I thought this place was flat until I got a bike!
Fish, I am always worried about you!
You lose a couple of pounds every time you play the lottery.
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