Hi, I hope you don't mind me mentioning on this thread that one symptom of depression is to "attribute successes to external factors", in other words, if you achieve something to assume the world has 'given you an easy ride on that occasion'.
Maybe it has, but the decision to go our and ride every day was still your own.
Thanks; this is of course true.. however the external factors are also correct. Had we had more typical winter weather I think I'd have had to have defaulted back to the car.
On top of that I've only carried on riding because it seems like the lesser of two evils since I've become so fragile in the face of the potential stress the car journey brings.
Bit of a chilly one this morning, but thankfully back to the boring straight in without any problems routine.
Under any other circumstances I'd have junked the wheels & tyres months ago but with no more commuting after tomorrow I couldn't justify starting to damage yet another set of wheels. Having checked my records they've lasted just over 6100 miles as a wheel & tyre combination so it shows a) just how bad the conditions have been to ruin a rim in such a short time and b) how well the Michelin Pro4 Endurance tyres have held up.
Cool - having only recently started riding through winter I can appreciate where you're coming from with the rim wear - while my rims don't seem too visibly worn, after every ride they're always covered in lashings of the grey paste that results from being abraded under braking.. not that it's enough incentive for me to change my bikes, but definitely a major plus for discs!
Sorry(?) to hear you're not commuting any more on the bike - I hope for good reasons..?
Today's grey, overcast ride began to the soundtrack of Joy Division's New Dawn Fades; appropriate considering the declining state of my head after a pretty pleasant and positive weekend.
I left the car content that I'd been mindful enough to ensure the sunroof was shut and the doors locked, however half a mile in I couldn't specifically recall turning the lights off, so it was back to the car to check... thankfully in good time today so no additional stress on top of the original anxiety through fear of being late. Predictably the lights were off when I got back..
The unpleasantness continued as I passed what looked like the remnants of a small dog on the Oxford road; identifiable only by one crooked back leg sticking up from the pile of mush it'd been reduced to by the morning traffic
Most of the journey along the tow path to town was unremarkable, however I had to stop for an inattentive kid who was walking towards me two-abreast with his mate, head down, headphones on.. ringing the bell achieved nothing and the first he was aware of my presence was when he literally walked into the front of my stationary bike 😕
Crossing the little hump-backed bridge on the way to bridge street the back end stepped out a shade thanks to the slick, wet surface - not the first time I've lost traction here and a reminder to take it easy.. as if I wasn't riddled with enough anxiety. Tyre pressure could probably do with dropping a bit too, however both are losing a bit currently so I'm reluctant to go too low.
The ride failed to improve upon reaching bridge street to find an unprecedented amount of traffic; the cause revealed shortly afterwards as some poor bloke lying in the road on the corner near the cycle-only turn off to the bottom of George street
No emergency services there yet but already plenty of people in attendance doing their best to look after him, as well as a council wagon parked on the side of the road with its driver attempting to direct traffic past the situation on the opposite side of the road.
Who's to say what happened or who was at fault, but I assume he got hit turning across towards George street. While the victim clearly wasn't in great shape he was conscious so hopefully injuries weren't too serious. I wanted to help but realistically there was nothing I could do so I pressed on.
Wierdness continued in the butchers when I was asked how my brother was.. since I don't have a brother I enquired about who'd asked, and they'd apparently given a rough description of me.. which was pretty bloody weird. I told the butcher to ask for my name next time, and left feeling increasingly like I was trapped in some Jacob's Ladder-esq purgatory..
I took the tow path along the river for the first time this week since I was still good for time and thankfully arrived with no further drama. At least this morning has been fairly busy so far which is keeping me occupied and making me feel like I'm pulling my weight a bit more after a fairly slack and unfulfilling week.. Still, very much looking forward to getting home and hiding from the world; although of course that can bring its own set of demons.
