The hardest thing is to turn round.
At the top of a hill, the road unfurls before you, leadign to the distant misty hills. And everything within you tells you to roll on forward, change those gears rapidly up, right on to the big ring, and keep going.
But sometimes, you need to turn round and go back.
And today was one of those days.
So I did get the thrill of changing from the small ring to the big, and onto the small sprockets to get moving off, and then work with the hard purchased altitude to bring me back down.
Rushing the small rises felt sweet, even though the rain and mizzle had made their way to every part of me. I wore my helmet to keep the worst of the rain off my head, but my hair was still soaking.
I looked down, and saw my tyres carving paths through the standing water on the road, and the hum of the rubber was mixed with a gentle swish of the water parting. I was in my own world.
To my right, the paths up to the farms were overrun, and the water cascaded in impromptu rills down over the edges, bubbling and rushing into the overloaded beck.
And I was descending like a rill, like a human waterfall, movement flowing man and machine together, gaining pace on the straights, and easing off to take the tight bends at the greatest speed I dared. Sometimes, I drifted wide on the bends, but brought it back in and the flow became a rush.
Towards the bottom, I looked down at my feet. The pedals were circling without my thought involved. This was a natural thing. The climbing had been smooth, and only marred by a couple of stops to sort out a recalcitrant rear light, but the lift I had gained had turned into pure speed and movement.
A faster rider came up to me. I couldn't keep his pace for long, and he seemed in his own world, but for a minute or so, we were working together. He didn't reply when i asked if I could take his wheel, but he was happy to ride there, silently pointing out the potholes that i know so well, but it made me smile.
All too soon, as those two flowing tributaries had come together, we had to part, and I climbed, reflecting, to my street.
It was still raining. I wiped the bike and hung it up, smiling peacefully inside.
first posted 25 November 2006
