Idyll

In between the hailstones today, I’ve declared the coming of spring, end of the gym and the start of the cycling season. We did Loch Katrine last Saturday with friends – magnificent.

Meanwhile I happened upon ‘The Wheels of Chance – A Bicycling Idyll’ by HG Wells. It’s very evocative of the early days of cycle touring – on uncrowded roads and all that.

In the middle of the night I happened upon this:

‘To ride a bicycle properly is very like a love affair – chiefly it is a matter of faith. Believe you do it, and the thing is done; doubt, and for the life of you, you cannot.’

I haven’t got the faintest idea what that means. But it sounds as if it means something.

More sensible to me was the attempt of my friend Fr Oliver Crilly to describe the spirituality of cycling – the combination of solitariness with locomotion. Now that does mean something to me

If you are into all this, take a look at Glenalmond-resident Mark Beaumont on Facebook. An hour ago, he was changing his chain in Kenya. He is trying to cycle from Cairo to Cape Town averaging 150 miles per day.