I remember one day around twenty years ago I was out cycling
in the Peak District with my brother in law Paul. As we both struggled up a very long and steep
climb called the Snake Pass, Paul pulled alongside me and said “Remember Danny
lad, we’re doing this for fun!”
And that comment of Paul’s has been coming back to me a lot
over the last few weeks as I’ve been training for a Coast to Coast Ride that
I’m doing in September. I’ve been up in Teesdale training and the problem with
that area is that you never seem to be able to go more than half a mile in any
direction without the road starting to go steeply upwards. And a number of times as I’ve struggled up difficult
climbs it really hasn’t felt like fun and I’ve been increasingly asking myself
why I keep on putting myself through such pain.
Don’t get me wrong I still love cycling but it’s the long
hours of training for long distance rides that I’m really not enjoying anymore.
I’ve done a number of these long distance events over the years, I’ve cycled
Coast to Coast a number of times and I’ve even done London to Paris twice. But
lately they seem more of a pain than a pleasure so why can’t I just stop doing
them?
I suspect the truth is that it’s all linked in with not
wanting to admit that I’m getting older. Admitting that I don’t feel up to long
rides anymore feels a bit like the start of a slippery slope. Before I know it
I’ll be shopping at Greenwoods and taking Saga holidays. And I’m really not
sure that I’m ready for all of that just yet.
So for the time being I’ll continue dragging my poor ageing
body over the climbs but don’t expect me
to say that I’m enjoying it!
