Way more darkness than light

I hope someone reads this and takes note. I want this this song played at my funeral. A version of it anyway. It's on my ipod if you need to find it. This one is pretty good too.

My plan to ride in a foreign country didn't quite come off, so I had to content myself with Shapwick, which is pretty much the same thing, although at least I can understand what they are on about. That's when they are talking, which I imagine to be pleasantly infrequent, and no words were expressed when I sailed through, just as the gathering dusk was done gathering, and getting ready for night.

A kind of day-night ride, spanning all shades of daylight, but most of all, peace and quiet.

It was cold too, but largely dry, and I had the moors and back lanes pretty much to myself. Which is great on the flat, but less so in the dark descending some steep single-track lane. I should probably have done the route in a clockwise direction. But then I wouldn't have got these photos.

There was, by force of necessity, a bit of A-road riding. Just to get me from Shapwick to Wells without the risk of taking a tumble on some of those back roads. The levels are still very wet, and the back lanes still have quasi streams running across them if there is any kind of slope, so night-riding is probably best done on roads I know well. And big roads. Without ice.



Despite the cold, and the consequent loss of sensation in my toes by the time I was home, it had been a great ride, I slowed towards the end, the cold, lack of food, and probably lack of company, all taking their toll. But for once it was nice to be out and not tilting at anything, having some thinking and reflecting time, and enjoying the small stuff of cycling.

Big groups, big routes and big mountains are all great, but sometimes I think we all just need a bit of peace and quiet.