Revolutionary

It is very easy at my age (52) to be attracted by the thought of becoming an armchair cyclist.

I have had a good 2015 on my road bike, mostly following in the wake of my 20 year old son in what was his first racing season. If he can readily be described as being as fit as a butcher's dog then I am more like the old bulldog that you see tied up, breathless, outside the off licence on most High Streets.

My last ride out was in October, before the bad weather, but in fact only a trip to and from my office to drop off and pick up some paperwork. By road the office is just 3 miles away but by bike, and avoiding main traffic routes by using cycle paths and along the Humber river track the round trip is more like 14 miles.

Most serious cyclists continue regardless of the weather and rapidly darkening afternoons with a suitably equipped winter bike, ie with mudguards, chunky puncture resistant tyres and high intensity lights but at their peril given the atrocious state of the British road surfaces and unsympathetic or just plain ignorant motorists.

I did have what could have been a very bad accident a few years ago now when hit by a car overtaking a line of traffic on a dark night being fortunate to escape with just a sore shoulder and stiff neck from shattering the car windscreen.

I still have nightmares of seeing a set of headlights doubling to two pairs and heading straight for me and am understandably reticent about riding after nightfall. A large part of my survival of the impact was down to the quality of my then winter bike which, designed with clever tubing just absorbed everything and crumpled into a small heap. I did not have the inclination or resources thereafter to replace that durable bicycle.

Confined to a best road bike (built 1982) and a mountain bike (2013 impulse purchase) my season out on the road has to finish in October.

My weight inevitably piles on without that regular exercise even with the best intentions of consuming smaller portions and keeping off beer and sweets.

Armchair cycling takes over for a few months.

I may take on the same calorific values whilst watching the re-runs of the years classic European races but there is simply no opportunity to burn them off. I might feel inclined to make a pedalling motion in my slippers if the on screen action is exciting or perch on the edge of my seat as though leading out the peleton in the final straight but this minimal sort of motion does not really shift the fat.

It has been a good year for televised coverage of professional racing and many of the main terrestrial channels carry the likes of the Spring Classics, main national Tours and World Championships. With so much armchair cycling it can, even with perfect riding weather, be difficult to be motivated to actually mount up and go out. There is also the problem that having seen how easy the pro-riders make it look over the course of an undulating  150 mile race stage there can be a rapid realisation that it is actually hard, physical effort when struggling to get over the railway bridge on the ring road or battling a head wind through the suburbs, even before reaching any rising ground or challenging terrain.

The big decision that looms up around Christmas time is when to relinquish the comfort of the armchair for the initially sharp and painful bike saddle. The factors for consideration are many from what is on TV, the weather conditions, social calendar, state of the roads and reliability of the daylight.

I have surpassed previous years by actually venturing out on my mountain bike just this afternoon.

It was a small step, granted, some 10 laps around the city park that my house overlooks but it was a start. My body found it to be a bit of a rude awakening, made a lot of disgruntled noises and sent pain signals to my brain from lazy and atrophied limbs. It was also a bit hazardous with wandering pedestrians, dozy motorists, stray dogs, inattentive buggy pushing parents, joggers with headphones, family groups heading for the playground and a few children wobbling about on obviously new bicycles.

For all of the perils, it was just nice to get back on my bike again. Roll on 2016.