Cautious creeping

Easter, that great holiday and celebration that, for us in the southern hemisphere, signals the descent into Fall, and the loss of daylight, colder temperatures and knee warmers. This year, Easter was magnificent in the weather stakes. Windless, with warm days and mild nights, not a whimper from me can be heard.

I knocked out some good miles on the bike, stringing together rides over the four days. My goal is to return to being the man I was in Summer before having a lie down in a crit, wedding festivities, moving house and some other assorted stupidity ripped all fitness from me.

On Saturday I took my son, all 7 years and 51 weeks of him, and the dog up to Woodhill to meet Warren and his dog. Junior also had his loinfruit there with another school dad and more offspring, they arrived after us, and did their own thing. My Village Idiot thought he was king of the world, riding with two men and two dogs, it was great. After Lulu, my dog, had ingested various picnic leftovers around the carpark we finally got going.

Warren, the dogs, the Kaos Kreator and I rolled around various trails, I was shown how grossly inadequate my technical riding skills are on rails, my son riding things with ease. Eventually we saw Junior and co at the start of the Cookie Trail, there the assorted midgets had a bit of a conflab and compared notes, then the two parties went their respective ways.

Of our party, I can report that we had a ball, but I did break Lulu, the dog, a little. By the end she was just trotting, well to the rear and taking any shortcuts available, obviously her pre-ride carpark nutrition wasn't sufficient. She did arrive home, thoroughly exhausted, but very happy. Meanwhile Charlie, Warren's pooch, was still spritely at the end, she is a ball of energy and a delight to be round.

Tonight I carried on racking up the miles. With the aid of a decent light I tackled some of the Waitaks. It was glorious, quiet, dark roads, a mild night and sometime glimpses of distant city lights. The only thing truly missing, because I was a bit later and I also normally ride these roads in the pre-dawn, were the assorted walkers, dogs and runners who almost always say "Gidday". At various points I felt like the world was asleep.

I have been blessed.