faygate

Riding in the dark

So today was the first day, or should that be night, that I have ridden my bike home in the dark. With the change from British Summer Time to normal GMT there was no choice. I knew this day would come but that practising with the twilight, as we lost 5 minutes of daylight a day, doesn’t really prepare you!

So what was it really like? Well, actually, not that bad at all. I thought I might have come across the odd ninja squirrel, but in the end the only object that on the path that caused me to have a moment, was another cyclist riding along with no lights at all. Idiot.

Most of the cycle track was pitch black, but I was helped by the fact there was a small moon and the path was dry and clear of leaves (thank you Bath and North East Somerset council). What I did learn was that you do need to point your lights up quite high, other cyclists don’t have a dipped beam on their lights, and the sound of the wind in your ears drowns out any odd (i.e. scary) noises you might have heard in the dark.

I still think that someone will jump out in front of me, or I’ll come across someone or something suddenly in the dark. For now though, I’ve completed the challenge and it means I can carry on commuting to work on two wheels a bit longer. Yay! :)

Commuter Challenge

Last summer I took the opportunity to supplement my running with some cycling, which in turn was part of 52 weeks of feeling fit photography project. After the struggle of the first week, using the other set of muscles in my legs, I actually quite enjoyed it.

So last week the opportunity rose again in the form of half-term. No kids to take to school and an understanding boss meant that I could get back in the saddle again. I’m not going to lie though, it has been tough, particularly the monster hill I have to climb up to the University. After cycling at a steady pace for 19km, that final 2km feels like Kilimanjaro! However, it’s been good for my motivation. Even though the weather hasn’t been great and did get a bit of soaking on the last day I haven’t had any trouble putting on my long shorts and peddling up a sweat.

I did have an ulterior motive though. The price of diesel! Currently at about £1.30 a litre (that’s $2.09 US dollars) it costs about £70 ($112) to fill up my car and if I’m lucky it’ll last me two weeks. So this week I actually saved myself about £30 (I still had to go out to do some shopping) and in return I burnt something like 8000 calories and progressively got faster over the total 105 miles.

So my next challenge? Well once it starts getting lighter in the evenings (and I can work a little later to fit in my seven and a half hour working day) I want to start making this a regular thing. I may not have a flashy bike with the best gears, or brakes for that matter, but that just means I have to work my muscles harder and one of the biggest lessons I learnt this week? It’s only a bit of water! ;)

I just need to do a bit more swimming now and I could become a tri-athlete! Maybe…