Karen writes: Friday gets a 'satisfactory'
107km bike ride, followed by a 5km run. I was 3km short on the bikeride, but am sure that will be forgiven. That was 5 hours on the road in total but I feel ok, it will probably be an early night tonight though, I'm yawning while typing.
I feel like I know the roads around South/East Auckland intimately, but things (well, people actually) still surprise me, sometimes making me feel great, sometimes not so great. Today was a not so great day, wherever I rode there was rubbish, I'm guessing that services just haven't caught up during the holiday. Along one road behind Ardmore airport there were piles at regular intervals made up of household rubbish tied into blankets and old sheets, and along the whole route was a trail of bits of plastic toys. I thought idly about assembling a barbie doll, but if I was collecting the bits I saw I would have 2 left legs (round the coast at Maraetai), and a head (Takanini). A supermarket trolley in a drain, a pile of ventilation pipe, and a camera. Hey, that was a camera, shall I go back for it? I did, and picked up a battered but working Samsung filled with what I would call important pictures, the beach, graduation, the zoo, and family shots so a visit to the Beachlands police station was in order. People who visit the beach do put things on the top of their cars, usually things like sunglasses, and a way up the road they fall off into the drain, where someone like me who is more interested in doodling along looking around than working sees them. But there are more uncomfortable things on the roadside too, like there is a new site just outside of Clevedon where heaps of withered flowers show that someone lost their life in the corner of someones field, sobering at the best of times, but as a cyclist you are very aware of human frailty. Just up the road is a memorial in the shape of an intricate cross made entirely out of alcohol miniatures from an earlier tragedy, that one always leaves me perplexed. Recently I was coming back via the coast road and as I came round the corner to Maraetai Beach there was a body hanging high in a big old pohutukawa. My heart nearly stopped, but as I got closer I saw it was clothing stuffed to look like a body. It nearly made me ill though, especially since on the other side of the road is a memorial to a boy who committed suicide some years ago. I was angry at the fools who perpetrated that piece of nastiness.
I was obviously feeling a bit 'dark' on my ride today. After something to eat and a rest I now feel some satisfaction from having ticked off day 5 of this plan, even if it wasn't the usual light and bright experience.
I feel like I know the roads around South/East Auckland intimately, but things (well, people actually) still surprise me, sometimes making me feel great, sometimes not so great. Today was a not so great day, wherever I rode there was rubbish, I'm guessing that services just haven't caught up during the holiday. Along one road behind Ardmore airport there were piles at regular intervals made up of household rubbish tied into blankets and old sheets, and along the whole route was a trail of bits of plastic toys. I thought idly about assembling a barbie doll, but if I was collecting the bits I saw I would have 2 left legs (round the coast at Maraetai), and a head (Takanini). A supermarket trolley in a drain, a pile of ventilation pipe, and a camera. Hey, that was a camera, shall I go back for it? I did, and picked up a battered but working Samsung filled with what I would call important pictures, the beach, graduation, the zoo, and family shots so a visit to the Beachlands police station was in order. People who visit the beach do put things on the top of their cars, usually things like sunglasses, and a way up the road they fall off into the drain, where someone like me who is more interested in doodling along looking around than working sees them. But there are more uncomfortable things on the roadside too, like there is a new site just outside of Clevedon where heaps of withered flowers show that someone lost their life in the corner of someones field, sobering at the best of times, but as a cyclist you are very aware of human frailty. Just up the road is a memorial in the shape of an intricate cross made entirely out of alcohol miniatures from an earlier tragedy, that one always leaves me perplexed. Recently I was coming back via the coast road and as I came round the corner to Maraetai Beach there was a body hanging high in a big old pohutukawa. My heart nearly stopped, but as I got closer I saw it was clothing stuffed to look like a body. It nearly made me ill though, especially since on the other side of the road is a memorial to a boy who committed suicide some years ago. I was angry at the fools who perpetrated that piece of nastiness.
I was obviously feeling a bit 'dark' on my ride today. After something to eat and a rest I now feel some satisfaction from having ticked off day 5 of this plan, even if it wasn't the usual light and bright experience.
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