Following two weeks with flu, and hardly any riding, then my minor but badly timed accident which put me out of the Red Bull before it even began… finally, I’ve been back on one wheel, albeit cautiously.
Tuesday, 5 kilometres on the 20, around the tarmac track at the Water Sports Centre. Gosh, isn’t a 20 sloooooooooooow?
Feeling awfully frustrated by the whole thing, I reacted badly when a wobble-bottomed jogger in a charity fun run shouted, “Here’s the entertainment; sing us a song!” I replied rather pompously, “Actually, I’m an athlete too.” Then I felt silly.
Fun run? Like military intelligence, mature student, safe investment…
Today, I went out on the 28/125 (Velo seat, and no handle) and resolved to stick to the tarmac. Can’t risk the wrist for a while yet. Well, about 14 miles later, I had ridden up and down a few hills, and along some broken-surfaced track, but nothing too difficult. A few minor UPDs, landing on my feet. I even managed to pull up on the seat a little bit on the descents.
The 28 is loads twitchier than the Coker, probably because it has a narrow (700c x 32) tyre pumped up rock hard. Max speed for the day was 12 mph, but at no stage did I feel like I was going fast. After months of hard speed and distance training on a Coker, everything is sloooooooooooooooow.
But at this leisurely pace, I noticed that the grey fluffy goslings from a few weeks ago now have their adult markings; the tiny ducklings are now 3/4 sized ducks; there were swallows, herons, chaffinches, greenfinches, and near the ladies rowing clubhouse, I saw some great tits too.
I’ll be glad to be back on the Coker, and glad to regain my confidence to practise tricks on the 20. Right now, pulling or pushing on the Coker handle would be too risky.
Still, it’s progress in the right direction.