BACK TO SCHOOL

So, the kids went back to school last week and I am now free to get back to my cycling routine - hoorah! Actually, it's not that straight-forward as I now miss the children and miss our family bike rides. As I mentioned in a previous post, the bike seat I bought at the start of the holidays revolutionised our rides as I was now able to get out with my youngest in tow.

Still, the 6 weeks passed in a blur and now I find I have time to myself to get out on my Bianchi again during the week, and at a sociable hour! At the moment I have two windows during the week, on Monday and Wednesday mornings, which allow me to get out, and which I have to admit is great fun and a REAL luxury. Of course, the weather will start to play a part, but this autumn and winter I am determined to stay on the road at least three times each week.

It's a shame in one respect that the children have returned to school; tomorrow the Tour of Britain comes to Norfolk for the first time and I for one cannot wait to get on the roadside to give my support to the riders as they pass. Allez allez allez, as they say. I would have loved to have taken all three kids with me, but as it stands I will have my youngest with me only. At least he seems reasonably excited about the prospect and he has been watching highlights of the Tour so far with me this week.

Right, I'd better go check that route map and decide where to watch tomorrow. The forecast is for a strong westerly breeze, which will blow the riders to the finish in super fast time I imagine. I hope I don't miss all the fun and arrive late only to find the detritus left after the peloton has stormed through full gas...

FAMILY PELOTON

It was an eventful day in the world of cycling yesterday. No, I don't mean Contador heading to a reinvented Team Saxo Bank-Sungard for next season. No, much more important than that. Not only did I get back out on my bike proper after a forced two-week hiatus, but I also managed to borrow a Claude Butler mountain bike and bought myself a child seat to hang off the back.

Well, I didn't exactly buy the child seat for myself; the weight limit is 22kg and even though I take pride in my grimpeur-like physique, even I exceed that. My youngest son however does not, and the seat is for him.

After a few minutes of easy installation, the seat and bike were united as one and my son sat wailing behind me on the bike. He was not overly fond of the idea of being on the bike with me. Perhaps he objected to the view of my backside? After some words of gentle persuasion by myself and his older siblings, he came round to the idea and we set off on our maiden ride together. All went well and it was a joy to be out with the kids riding the country lanes. It was a nice bit of resistance training for me too!

We did have a slight mishap on the return leg of the journey however. In defiance of my strongest recommendation, my eldest son decided to sprint for the motion-activated traffic lights that control traffic flow over the bridge into the village. As he approached the lights they seemed reluctant to change and remained steadfastly on red. Now, being a law-abiding cyclist he hit the brakes to stop, only to lose control, Menchov-like, to end up depositing some DNA on the roadside. He was fine, but as I rolled up to check on him I forgot I had the child seat on the back of my bike. I stopped and of course as I did so, my bike lurched precariously to one side, depositing my youngest into a patch of nettles. Fortunately he took it all in his stride, but I worry that it wasn't the best introduction to cycling for him.

As for my solo ride? I got out at 6.00am in the early morning sunshine. There was a mist hanging over the river and an almost Autumnal chill in the air. It was a morning to exhilarate the senses. Interestingly, since having this wretched summer cold I have lost my sense of smell. Now this can be frustrating at the best of times, but yesterday on the bike I felt bereft of a sense I normally take for granted; despite enormous lung-expanding deep intakes of breath I just couldn't get the country smells I so enjoy. The dusty smell of recent summer rain, the dewy dampness of the wet fields, the heady scent of the harvest, the rotting corpse like, gag-inducing stench of the muck heap... OK, so it wasn't all bad...