Wicklow Gap and 20 miles

The day after 16 miles on bare feet I figured I'd give them a rest and exercise my bike, which has been a desultory couch potato for some while now, as a precursor to possible longer rides if I get let out on a suitably warm and still day later in the year.

Although the sun was shining some of the time it was cold. Too cold to stop and take photos. Even too cold at the summit to eat my chocolate bar. Total distance 20.7 miles, max speed 35 mph, average speed 11.2mph, elevation gain 475m. So there.

On the ascent a girl cyclist passed me - I called out asking her for a tow. On reaching the summit I saw that she had turned around and was returning by the way she had come and she smiled when I waved. So maybe I am not so looney for cycling there and back for no better reason than the challenge!

The world is my gym

Lough Ouler, close-by hidden gem #swim #hike #run #cycle #love

They want to purchase more gym equipment. I cannot deny that exercise is good for you especially if your occupation is otherwise sedentary as is so often the case now-a-days, so I'm not exactly against such purchases. But I may have mentioned once or twice that I find and enjoy my exercise principally in jogging or hiking barefoot or cycling. They want to buy another rowing machine, but we have a lake half a mile down the road and it was only a few months back we got rid of a dinghy because no-one could see a use for it. They want another cycling machine, but I have two bicycles and there are others here, and cyclists come to this area from all around because of its beauty and its relatively quiet roads. We have mountains to climb, forests to explore, a lake-side which is often walk-able, smaller mountain lakes that you can swim in, all within walking distance. They want to buy another bar and weights, but we have many outdoor activities that require arm muscles like stacking logs, digging, mucking out.

With all this so close how could anyone want to spend good money on, or use, imitation exercise machines cooped up in a small room, except possibly in the dead of winter and in the unlikely event of a snow storm?

Instrument of torture