Blue Cyclists

It's a chilly morning and as I jog up to the bus stop, a young student pedals past me on his MTB. He's come out in three quarter length shorts and no jacket. Consequently his legs are visibly blue and he’s shivering all over, this appears to be making him weave all over the place. He has got a jumper on but he's pulled most of that over his hands to try and keep them warm which has had the effect of exposing his back to the elements, turning that blue as well.

He part wobbles, part crawls past me but then a few moments later I catch up with him again. I realise he is now wobbling even more violently than before because he’s struggling with the gradient of the Nottingham ring road. It hadn't really occurred to be before that this might be uphill, it's pretty flat really. Well in my eyes it is but I suppose there is a very slight slope to it. He practically comes to a stop and I overtake him. I take a quick glance at him to check he hasn’t cardiac arrested due to the cold. He's still breathing but the blue of his legs is now topped off by the redness of his face. I carry on with my run. When I get further up the road I glance back, to see that he's now got off his bike and is now walking. If his first lecture is at nine he's got just under two hours to get the quarter of a mile to the University. I'm not sure he's going to make it.

As usual I get the bus most of the way to work and then run the last five miles. As expected, it’s hard work this morning. My right knee is still a bit sore and I had to stop a few times to do stretches and stuff, which work quite well. My joints were starting to almost function properly by the time I arrived at work. I think if I warm up well on Sunday I should be ok.

The old joints function well in the evening as well, when I play squash. I again win my one game. Since I started focusing on one game and not trying to win them all, things are getting better. The trick is not to focus on the first few games like I used to but to simply use those to tire out my opponent. Once I’ve got more games in the bag than I achieved last year perhaps I might try and sneak two games off him. After that, the sky’s the limit.