A couple days ago I had a dream. In the dream I sported a large and bushy beard that was uneven on the right hand side and I felt a strong urge to cut off the offending bit just to even things out a bit. For some reason I found myself walking around or through the corridors of an expensive hotel, looking for the lift and while doing so spotted an old friend from a long time ago. I remember wondering why he was working in the hotel, but I never stopped to converse with him. Next I found myself standing by the side of some kind of pond and there was a man in the water wearing waterproof trousers, but where the waterproof bits ended there was a real risk that the man would get wet and the very thought of it made me feel uncomfortable. I have no idea why he was wearing waterproof clothing or why he was in the water and the next thing I knew I was awake and it was morning.
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| When the gates open I ride out and head for home... |
Sometimes I don't feel like riding the bike to work. I managed to ride on Tuesday and my plan is to ride again tomorrow, Thursday. But today (Wednesday 10th August) I took the train in and the bus home. By going just one way by train I only spend £4.80 instead of £9.40 and that means that this week (if I ride the bike tomorrow) my total expenditure on train fares is just £9.60 instead of the usual pre-bike bill of almost £38. The last thing I want to do is give Southern Rail any more of my money than I have to, so I ride to work and I get fit in the process (and I lose a bit of weight). I rode Tuesday morning and it was a good ride in; I must have broken a record of sorts because even though the inward ride involved me stopping to buy shower gel at the Co-op in Merstham I still managed to shower and dress and be at my desk around 0810hrs. Now, considering I'd been faffing around in the shower, which is a good 20 minutes of balancing on one leg, trying to dry my feet before placing them on the tiled floor and then all the messing around drying the rest of myself, that means I must have arrived at the office around 0750hrs, which means I rode the distance in what, well, actually, I couldn't really tell the exact time because my iphone let me down, or rather I let myself down by forgetting to charge it. Still, I left the house around 0637, if you account for messing around in the Co-op as five minutes, that means I would have started the ride at 0642 so that means it took my just one hour and eight minutes when it normally takes me around one hour and 10 or even one hour and 16 minutes, so I'm managing to shave time off the ride, which is good.
The ride back was good too. Again, however, I felt the need to stop at the Merstham Co-op, this time to buy some mineral water. I need the water to hydrate myself before the climb up White Hill Lane and later up Tithepit Shaw Lane and believe me it helps. After swigging half of the bottle I sailed up the hill and felt great when I reached the top; I did the same before ascending Tithepit Shaw Lane and once both hills were conquered I only had a short ride along Wentworth, on to the Limpsfield Road, through Sanderstead's high street and then through the churchyard and down Church Way to home. The other week, or perhaps it was the other day, my wife was following me down Church Way without me knowing. She'd been to Waitrose to pick up some food and followed me down the hill. She said I ride miles too fast and she's probably right, but I kind of know what I'm doing, I keep a weather eye on the streets and roads ahead of me and I'm always covering my brakes.
When I got home last night I was whacked out. So much so that I fell asleep in a crumpled pile on the sofa and had to be woken up around 11pm after which I went to bed and slept through until 0530hrs. It was this morning that I was considering riding in, even leaving the house later at, say, 0700hrs, but in the end I simply couldn't face it. Instead I was given a lift to the station from where I paid my £4.80 and took the 0848 train to East Croydon where I switched over to Platform 6 and picked up a Gatwick train, which I knew stopped at Redhill. All day I felt relieved that I didn't have to ride the bike home, I was simply not in the mood. The very thought of changing into my cycling gear and riding towards Warwick Wold Road and the hills that followed filled me with dread. Instead I sat on the bus for all of 40 minutes reading Philip Roth's American Pastoral and now I'm sitting in the garden writing this blogpost. But tomorrow I ride and hopefully also on Friday even if I am on a day off. If I ride tomorrow I must ride either on Friday or Saturday to keep up with my four rides a week.
Yesterday (Thursday 11th August) there was a strong temptation not to ride to work again, but I was conscious of how I'd been saving money and denying Southern Railway a little bit of profit and felt good about it, so I simply had to ride the bike. I left the house around 0700hrs and it was a wonderful ride. The sun wasn't properly up yet so it was relatively cool all the way in. Put simply, I loved it! I showered and went upstairs to work and during the day the conversation, with my pal Garth, turned to his 1287 Loop ride in which he rode down Hilltop Lane on the way back. Hilltop is the road I'm effectively riding towards as I come up Warwick Wold Road prior to turning right into Springbottom Lane. By continuing up Hilltop I avoid the dreaded White Hill Lane, but the rumour is that Hilltop is just as punishing, if not more so.
Around 1800hrs I leave the office in the heat of the evening and head towards the sticks, excited by the prospect of a new hill and possibly one that presents more of a challenge that White Hill Lane. I fill a water container with lemon-flavoured water. There was a lemon in a bowl in the kitchen so I squeezed it into the water to give myself a flavoured drink. At the foot of Hilltop I stopped and drank half of it and then I set off. Before I tackle White Hill Lane I crank the bike down into the lowest of gears, but on this occasion, as I wasn't sure what to expect, I kept it in the middle of the front crank and as the ride progressed I didn't feel the need to change down. At intervals I stood up on the pedals, not really finding the hill any great effort. The worst bit (if it can be called such) was a right hand turn climb but I still didn't change down and then, there it was, a sign reading 'Chaldon' and the end of the climb. I felt good because I wasn't feeling like I normally feel (knackered) after climbing White Hill Lane. Hilltop continued on the flat and was peppered with pleasant-looking houses all the way to a crossroads. I knew not to go straight ahead down Church Lane because that led to Coulsdon and would have resulted in a ride along the A23 into Purley and besides, the road was closed. My aim was a right turn towards Caterham on the Hill along Dove Road, which proved to be bad road, lots of cars and slightly precarious. There was a mini roundabout and a shop called Chaldon Books, here I turned left and headed towards an Esso Garage then it was a right turn on to Burntwood Lane and then I was back on Whyteleafe Hill and the fairly fast coast towards the railway crossing at the bottom. Normally at this point I would be feeling tired and longing to be home, but I was feeling pretty chipper I has to be said. I finished off the lemon-infused water at the bottom of Tithepit Shaw Lane and then sailed up the hill without a care in the world. Not riding up White Hill Lane clearly preserved a lot of energy and when I reached home I was still majorly energised, so much so that a ride to Hurst Green and a pub called the Haycutter for dinner wasn't a big effort. I enjoyed cod and chips with mushy peas and a small bottle of sparkling mineral water. Even when we reached home I felt fine so there's something to be said for not opting for the steep hill. That said, Dove Road put me off so I won't be riding up Hilltop Lane for some time, I'll be enduring White Hill Lane.
This morning (Friday 12 August) I kind of knew I wouldn't be riding to work and I didn't. I figured that if I ride to Oxted in the morning that would be fine as it would mean four rides (Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday). So here's hoping I'll get up tomorrow, feeling fine, and that I'll look out, notice the amazing weather and then head towards Oxted for a green tea in the sunshine outside of Caffe Nero.
