Ups and Downs

Last night I convinced myself that I must be coming down with something. I'd got nothing done all day and felt completely drained. I woke up this morning into a much clearer head. The sun was shining and I thought I'd just get out for a short ride as the forecast was for rain later. I hoped that it might kick-start my day.

And that's exactly what it did. As I passed each turn-off point I seemed to feel stronger, choosing to go further. The short ride evolved into quite a long ride of sixty odd miles out to Halton Gill and back via Silverdale and Malham. There have been days recently where I've felt like the wind has been against me all the way around. Today it felt like the wind was on my back for the entire circuit. That energy has stayed with me for the rest of the day and I've got the jobs done that I should have dealt with yesterday. If there is any explanation it's that my body was forcing me to rest yesterday, both physically and mentally, and today I've reaped the rewards. The lesson is that downtime is really important. I need to learn to choose to take it rather than having it forced upon me! Easier said that done. And I know you've been telling me this same thing for ages now!

I'm now feeling a bit of a fraud after all your good wishes yesterday. I took some nice mono landscapes with some lovely subtle cloud patterns, but I'm choosing this one for the journal. The photo is a pretty good metaphor for my life at the moment. It also gives you some idea of the joy and the challenge of the wonderful roads we have for cycling around here, following these narrow winding ribbons of tarmac up hill and down dale. I genuinely believe this is the best cycling in the world.