Day Five in the big brother house and the housemates are feeling restless… We are all in this together but each of us has our own challenges to overcome. Some have to work from home whilst simultaneously occupying home-schooled kids, others have lost their jobs and are spending anxious days in the queue for Universal Credit. Some people are keyworkers, with no choice but to put others first and head out to the front line in this fight against COVID-19 (thank you, everyone one of you) whilst many are in “vulnerable groups”, advised by the government that they are particularly at risk. Plenty of people, I’m sure, are confined to baracks with a cough and fever, and my thoughts are with you guys especially.
I’m also very sensitive to the fact that I’m one of the lucky ones that is able to access the great outdoors on my doorstep, while many people are cooped up in city centre apartments, with limited places to find open space and exercise whilst safely maintaining social distancing. If this is your reality right now, I hope that you are still managing to get out while we are allowed, in our limited, careful way, as it makes such a difference to our wellbeing. Humans are by nature, restless creatures. We need to feed the rat.
Everyone’s interpretation of the rules is slightly different, but Wally and I are trying to be respectful of the guidance that the government has given us, whilst still making the most of the wonderful places that we have very locally. At the risk of sounding pious, it feels important to set a good example right now. We are not going too far, and we are not out for too long. We all need to behave, as best we can, and remember what is at stake.
With that in mind, we did head out on our bikes again today, but we didn’t go any great distance. We didn’t need to. Behind our village is one of the best road-climbs I know. The Ross Road is the road by which I measure all others, a steep and sinuous shady lower section, followed by a brow-beating endless effort to the top once you leave the trees. 286m and 5km of rough, singletrack tarmac, with buzzards, kestrels and ravens along the route.
I’m not in great bike condition at the moment, but we managed a couple of repeats of this climb. I certainly felt like I’d got maximum bang for my buck out of todays government approved exercise! Lets hope we can continue to get out in the days ahead.
