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Bike to basics

I decided to start cycling to (get and then) keep fit. So I guess I'm off to a shaky start if at the time that this photo was taken, I hadn't been on a bike since almost exactly a month before...and ashamedly, I haven't been back on since. Sies!

I've realised that I quite like the sport and I feel especially amped to keep it up when I'm somewhere between Lakeside and Muizenberg, watching the sunrise, with the fresh air kissing my cheeks...and when I get back home and can enjoy the good feeling of 'healthy'.

Sharing in this new hobby with my Dad is quite special too. Of course, having such a natural athlete as your training partner can be quite a challenge. Watching him climb those Knysna hills with no trouble was a pain in my saddle. That race meant a lot - not only as a first event or for a decent time, but because I had my Dad right beside me for the first time in years and he was patient, encouraging, fun and just such a Dad as we crossed the Finish Line and he said "well done, Ash, we did it!" - and gave me a funny hug.

I'd like to think that this is doing as much for my fitness overall as it is for my relationship with Dad overhaul!


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  1. As I read the last few lines of this post, I simultaneously laughed and cried. Out loud. In the staff workroom of the school where I'm doing teaching prac... *blush*

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