Lockdown, Part 29: Getting the bike back from the shop...

I've had a week without the bike. A whole week of not cycling. And while I said in a previous post that a bike equals freedom, there's something free about not having one too. Everytime I started to feel guilty about not getting exercise, I remembered that I didn't have a bike and, therefore, it didn't matter. I substituted cycling with walking, but I never kept it up and eventually any kind of fitness regimen I might have thought I had, crumbled around me and I simply got on with being a slob. It's amazing how quickly you forget 'being fit', although I'm guessing that a week out of the saddle is meaningless in terms of 'losing fitness'. That said, I think it's the case that when you stop exercising you very quickly find yourself out of condition. The downwards spiral develops quicker than the upwards one, I'm told, which is, of course, the essence of Sod's Law, like when you drop a slice of toast it always lands butter side down. The only thing I did notice about not exercising, having cycled almost daily since lockdown, is that I get depressed quicker than when I was keeping fit. It's easier to despair and to think the worst and to fall off the happiness stall when you're not generating endorphins or whatever is that exercise generates. I feel like I haven't been writing as much either, certainly not this blog and, to be fair, not anything else.

You can see my bike resting against the window

I was beginning to wonder whether or not I'd get the bike back. The guy in the store said he'd email me, but he didn't so eventually I called and there appears to have been some kind of confusion based on somebody else having an identical bike, it wasn't clear, but yes, my bike was ready and I could pick it up tomorrow (Saturday). "But wait until I send you an email," he said, although I didn't. I called again and he said come round now, so I did. He was shutting up shop at 1300hrs and when I looked at the clock that's exactly what time it was. "Are you sure?" He said yes, he'd be there faffing around for a while so I drove over there, it's just under six miles, with all the family in the car so that somebody could get the car back as I rode home.

What had been done? Well, the brakes for a start, they were main reason it went in, but I asked for a bronze service and a clean too, might as well keep the bike looking neat and tidy, I thought. The brakes were fixed but there had been some scoring of the disc, which he said we ought to keep a watch on. I was expecting him to replace the disc, but he didn't. There was also a new chain and block and that was it. The bike is four this year (I bought it in October 2016, it's a long story) so a service was on the cards. I paid up an additional £54, added to the £61 I'd already paid for the bronze service and clean and off I went. It was good to be back on the bike and I must say that it rode well. I'd go further and say it was like riding a new bike. While the ride over was 5.7 miles, the ride back was 7.1 miles and this was largely due to me getting lost. I followed the road left from the bike shop and then took a left and thought I'd pass the Esso garage that I use as a landmark, but no, I didn't. In fact I'm not sure where I ended up. I stopped, turned around and cycled past the bike shop again, past the big Tesco on my left and then hung a right at the lights and rode towards Auckland Road (where my pal Dave used to live) and headed towards Whyteleafe Hill, from where all was fine. The ride back involves a killer hill, Tithepit Shaw Lane, but like everything in life it's not that bad when you're doing it. I managed to escape the rain, which was good, as it was raining when we left in the car. It took me 40 minutes, whereas the outward ride had taken me 38 minutes. It's little facts like these that make having the Strava app on the phone so worthwhile.

The outward ride to the bike shop

And now it's Sunday morning and the sun is shining out there. I've thought about going early, like in the olden days pre-lockdown, and I still might go early, but the plan is to ride out later, at around 1000hrs and meet Andy at the Churchyard for 11am. Going back to my rides with silly names (see previous post) this means the Churchyard Chuffer, a straight ride along the 269 and then Clarks Lane that covers 15.5 miles. I'd thought about going earlier, riding to the lakes, but no, not today, possibly next week and possibly earlier, get the riding out of the way early.

Next week I'll hopefully get back into the stride of things with a few Ledgers Double Loops, the odd Washpond Womble and possibly even a Beech Farm Bastard, we'll see. I've just eaten breakfast (no-sugar Alpen with black grapes and sliced strawberries thrown in plus a cup of decaff tea. All is quiet at 0710hrs, I haven't put the radio on. The sun is filtering through the curtains, it's around 12 degrees out there and the weather has cooled down since the heat of last week. I took Thursday off and drove to the beach where I swam in the sea, the first time since Copacabana Beach in 2015. The sea was warm and I stayed in for around 30 minutes, it was wonderful. As always I wish I'd been staying down there for the night so I could repeat the process the following morning, but no, I had to drive home, which is always a bit of a pain.

The lockdown is being eased some more. By July 4th the pubs will re-open, there are already more cars on the road and things are (sadly in so many ways) returning to normal. It was great having hardly any cars on the road, but now they're back and I'm hoping all this talk about more cycle lanes is not just hot air. People have started to talk about going back to working in an office and to be honest it doesn't bother me. The worst thing about the current set-up is that I'm stuck in the house ALL day, that's why I'm exercising daily on the bike, to keep fit and active. I won't say I'm not getting bored with it. 

Mowing the lawn was one substitute for riding the bike

I meant to take two days off last week, but only took one, so I might take my second day next week. The weather's not as good next week, but I'm going to keep an eye out for the sun and if it materialises I'll quickly arrange some annual leave and possibly head for the beach again.