When I lived in Cardiff my main mode of transport was my beloved bike. I used to look forward to cycling into uni in the morning (ahem, afternoon), zipping in and out of the traffic and making my way down the cycle lanes to the front of the queue at the lights, cheekily stopping right in front of the car waiting there. There's nothing quite like the satisfaction you obtain from getting around under your own steam, knowing that you're getting excercise and not polluting the environment - unless it's by swearing at the stupid pedestrian who thought they could cross the road right in front of you, or walk in your cycle lane, or the moronic commuter who impatiently swings round in front of you from behind before taking a left-hand (for anyone not in the UK/Australia read right-hand) turn causing you to slam on your breaks and curse as foully as you know how at the top of your voice. Despite the idiots on the road, cycling the Welsh capital and the sense of independence it gave me was always one of my favourite things about living there.
View from our terrace with El Entrego at the bottom of the valley.
This is all very well to look at, and I love it most of the time, however, cycling most places around here involves hills - big, steep, imposing hills, oh yes, and don't let's forget the mountains.
I am nowhere near fit enough as I need to be to use my bike as a serious method of transport to get about in these parts. I once tried cycling back from work and only made it through the town and most of the way up the first hill - which to be fair is the steepest one of the whole route back - before I realised I couldn't breathe properly and had to start walking. I greatly miss not being able to hop on my bike and take myself the wherever I wish to be.
Every so often, it happens that Matt needs the car when I have to be at work. As long as it's not raining, this is something that always perks me up. Out comes the bike from the shed, greeted like a long-lost friend and down the hill I go to work. I adore cycling into town, the feeling of freedom it gives you to wheel your way down the hill, wind in hair and mountains on the horizon is unbeatable. I often like to play chicken with my sense of self-preservation and see how much speed I can build up down an certain stretch before I put the brakes on.
When I cycle into work I always arrive feeling revitalised and ready for the day's challenges. If I didn't have to rely on a lift home afterwards I'd do it every day.
Those that know where I live will proabably have guessed what's coming next. What I really don't enjoy about where I live in Spain, exactly where I live, is that it's like this:
View from our terrace with El Entrego at the bottom of the valley.This is all very well to look at, and I love it most of the time, however, cycling most places around here involves hills - big, steep, imposing hills, oh yes, and don't let's forget the mountains.
I am nowhere near fit enough as I need to be to use my bike as a serious method of transport to get about in these parts. I once tried cycling back from work and only made it through the town and most of the way up the first hill - which to be fair is the steepest one of the whole route back - before I realised I couldn't breathe properly and had to start walking. I greatly miss not being able to hop on my bike and take myself the wherever I wish to be.
Every so often, it happens that Matt needs the car when I have to be at work. As long as it's not raining, this is something that always perks me up. Out comes the bike from the shed, greeted like a long-lost friend and down the hill I go to work. I adore cycling into town, the feeling of freedom it gives you to wheel your way down the hill, wind in hair and mountains on the horizon is unbeatable. I often like to play chicken with my sense of self-preservation and see how much speed I can build up down an certain stretch before I put the brakes on.
When I cycle into work I always arrive feeling revitalised and ready for the day's challenges. If I didn't have to rely on a lift home afterwards I'd do it every day.
37 comments:
I used to do that sort of thing on my motorbike when I was a student in Cardiff - from University Hall in Pen-y-lan down into Cathays Park.
Did you swear in English or Welsh?
Lorenzo.
'wyt'n siarad Cymraeg?
Mallie, no, well just the odd phrase: 'I have a boyfriend', 'Welcome to Cardiff', 'a pint please', and the ever useful 'I have big breasts' - learnt outside the Taf one night when a girl shrieked it in Welsh and my friend from Llanelli translated and repeated it for us.
I used to cycle part way up Pen-y-lan hill to go to Sainsburys of an evening and check out the special offers. In my first year the whole hill it was part of the trek into uni - walking this time. I was in Heycock hall, they pulled the place down the year after which was the best thing they could have done to it.
Lorenzo, I'm afraid I know no swearing in Welsh - I always thought the Welsh swore in English, proabaly because of all the 'bloody hells' I heard when watching pobol y cwm.
I don;t think there are many good swear words in Welsh, they tend to focus around the bible like "Diowl!" (devil) and "Arglwydd!" (lord).
Raelha, I believe you know Carwyn, my tounger son?
Maalie, yes. We were both doing our PhDs at a similar time in the same department.I spent many warm times with C and K, eating, playing Scrabble, watching films, playing fantasy tennis, celebrating succesful vivas...
Raelha, I wonder if you saw this on my blog?
Maalie and I were born in Rhybina (or something).
Did you only eat veggie with C and K?
Lorenzo.
I haven't ridden a bike since I was a teenager, and I often think I'd like to have another go. However, like you Raelha, I live on top of a hill and the ride back up from my village would just about kill me. I ease my conscience instead, by pedalling away on my cross trainer in the living room. It's good for my bum and nobody has to listen to me swearing.
Going down the hill is the fun part, I think I'm gonna limit all my riding just to that part.
By the way Raelha where are all the sunset pics? I really miss them.
Mags, I used to love the cross trainer in the gym, getting into the rhythm and then slowly pushing it up several notches - probably because I found it easiest, rowing was a killer. And yes, it gave me a firm bum too. I could probably do with a bit of that now.
Meta, there´s been no compaprable sunset/rise since the last set of pics. As soon as there is I´ll post another one. You´ll have to make do with my words in the meantime.
Lorenzo, yes purely veggie, as always. Although for some reason last night I had disturbing dream about eating a thick slice of ham - I thought I´d got past that stage 10 years ago.
Maalie, yes, I had noticed that post. C looks incredibly contented in all the pictures I see of him with H - as he should.
C&H? What are you guys talking about, sugar?
C and K you daft Meta not C and H. (ha ha ha, evil laugh, we have our secrets don't you know). Follow Maalie's link.
Whenever C and K come here I always make a balls of their meal by giving them mushrooms or lentils or somesuch thing they don't like. I stick to quorn now. I know pasta is a safe bet with K!
Keep on with the bike. I find it really difficult cycling up hill. I can run up most hills, but cycling defeats me. OK on the flat though.
Lorenzo.
Lorenzo, I can walk the 3.5km up the hill in 45 minutes. Cycling it is currently impossible. And I did refer to C and H.
Meta, sweetie, C is Maalie´s son, K is his (C´s) wife and H is their daughter. Read the comments!
Biking IS the best! I live in the mountains and there is specific training you can do to improve your climbing ability.
It does not take long at all and by the look of your bike you should start to enjoy the hills in no time.
A quick way of helping is to change the rear cluster so the lowest few gears really are for steep hills... costs very little and you can change back to a stronger cluster when you get better at it...
What on earth is a cluster?
Lorenzo.
Gardening. Now that's a nice thought for someone who spends far too much time cooped up in an office at this time of year. Go and help the poor bloke out. Didn't you and Matt grow lots of pumpkins last year?
Mags, Poor nobody. He stayed inside and practised his guitar next to the fire while I went out in the cold and ended up chopping wood as it was raining. Still, your comment has left me feeling rather sheepish, there are things I need to sort out.
Fortunately, his Weirdness loves to do all sorts of man stuff around my house. I'm equally happy to return the favours by cooking most of the food. It's quite simple really; if I attempted to fix the hot water tap, the bathroom would be unusable for a fortnight, and his cooking is well..er.. a bit like his writing; experimental and bizarre.
a cluster:- the sprockets at the rear of the bike Lorenzo!
Also Raelha. if you ride a front suspension bike you lose a lot of pedal power.. so, get a bike shop to stiffen the front up with a stiffer spring and or oil...
What the hell is a sproket?
L.
Simon, thanks again. Now I just need to figure out how to say all that in Spanish.
sproket! the gear/s lorenzo!
il gruppo
The stuff that all says Shimano on it - or in Europe sometimes Campagnolo.
The big flywheel that turns the chain that's connected to the derailleur which changes which size gear the chain is connected to in the back, which ultimately moves the rear wheel in a certain ratio to your foot-pedalling rotations.
Ah, forget it Simon. I think Lorenzo's a lost cau... wait a sec! I know an analogy that will get her to understand right away.
The bike is a horse, Lorro. A big, sleek, manly racehorse powering it way around a track, with you astride it. The cluster/gruppo/whatever is the racehorse's balls. If you nudge them just a little with your foot, the horse kicks into a slightly new gear and runs a bit faster. If you kick 'em hard and/or wearing spurs, he will suddenly become Seabiscuit and lap all the other horses on the track.
And if you abuse them any more than that, you'll derail his chain and he will cease to function all together. A horse with a broken gruppo is a sad thought indeed. He can't even be put out to pasture to stud.
Hope that helps.
Or, just think of the gears in your little Mr. Bean cars in the UK. Same thing essentially, except you probably really don't know how a car's gears work either.
Hmm...
I feel for Maalie trying to get across the finer points of the Krebb's cycle or phytobacteria or convergent evolution to his students, now. Teaching is humbling.
And by the way Lorenzo I'm not implying in any way that you're "learning challenged," just that you're right-brained and EXTRAORDINARILY WITTY AND CREATIVE and not left-brained like your brother with a mind full the boring logical stuff.
*Makes his departure before anyone really thinks too hard about any of this meandering post*
Also:
*Expects no help from either Rex or Raelha*
As usual, hundreds of typos. Nuts.
Most boy horses have their gruppos removed at an early age. 'Cut' is the technical expression but I always think that is a rather nasty word in relation to their sprockets. If they weren't removed the little boys would grow into great big stallions and become somewhat unpredictable behaviourwise. Therefore, it is a bit difficult to get your legs around the throbbing beast you are straddling, and reach down under, especially as there isn't anything left to stick your spurs in. It's far better to whack them on their round, hard rumps with a riding crop. It also makes a very satisfying 'thwack'.
Of course I know how car gears work. You move the stick from one position to another, when you hear the engine is getting out of breath.
Lorenzo.
All I need to know in Spanish is: Uno coñac de Puerto de Santa Maria por favor. Grande.
There you have it, folks: Classic Lorenzo and Maalie.
As for the details about the poor equine fellows' runcible bits, I regret even bringing those poor creatures into the discussion. Fortunately I have dragged the information to the "Recycle Bin" in my head and then emptied said bin. Now what was I just talking about?
lorenzo! you are very rucible for real!
Hi Raelha, I leave for your country tomorrow on a well deserved break!
What is this Rach? A whole week gone by without a new post? You been out gardening or something?
Will you be meeting up with Raelha Maalie?
Hey guess what? I actually got on a bicycle today and managed several miles along the Bristol to Avonmouth cycle track, without falling off or swearing too much. I felt like I'd been kicked in the crotch though. Despite this, I may do it again even.
I know how you feel, my bike has been gathering dust and rust ever since we moved to Hilly North Devon (my belly has got bigger too!)
Congrats and good on you, Mags! Getting out the bloody door on onto the bicycle is the hardest part. That and feeling saddlesore for awhile. Good job though!
Mags, well done. Yes, it does have that effect if you've not been riding for a while, I know exactly how you feel.
Yon Magdalen, thou shoulds't use a proper lassie's saddle, nay a long thin one. They be for men with padded pants.
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