The year is 2024 and I am ever so slowly finding my way out of the worst episode of long covid since the disease took hold of me.
I have spent months sitting and lying down, my bicycle a dusty relic of days gone by. This is not entirely true, not the bicycle part, but it's how it has been feeling for a while.

Life is changing.

I am unsure how wise it is to contemplate long days on the saddle but I know one thing for sure: I am still a cyclist. I still want to cycle. There is nowhere I come quite as alive as atop my saddle.

September has been a month of learning and seeking the new boundaries of my everyday life. I've walked, I've had days out, I've caught up with friends. There has been a price to pay for some of those activities but not all. So for the month of October and some of November, I am going to test the boundaries of what I can do on a bicycle. It won't be what I can do forever, but it will be what I can do for now. I've been putting this off because riding to the park and back feels pointless, meaningless, and frankly far too short. I've never cycled hundreds of miles in a day but I am used to more than my local parks. I am used to crossing the bridge into Wales, to disappearing into the Somerset levels, to exploring the hills of the Costwolds, and to following old railway lines and scenic canals. A picnic in my panniers, a camera slung over my shoulder, I cycle all day long, pausing often to engage with the landscape and the life around me. Or I used to. I have not done any of this since June, since my trip in Scotland that crumbled my body into fatigue and pain.

Learning my body anew is difficult, learning to reframe my hobbies is harder still. I long for the past and resist the possibility of change but change I must. So when I found out about the Coffeeneuring Challenge held by chasingmailboxes.com, I jumped at the opportunity of joining. It's the excuse I needed to get me out of the house and back on the saddle

The rules state a minimum of a two miles ride per outing. I will attempt this but will not hold to it if I find myself unable to sustain the distance.
The rules also state that the drink does not have to be coffee and this is a most welcome rule. Caffeine does strange things to my body these days so it is off the list of beverages I can indulge in. Tea (in a very limited fashion), hot chocolate, and cider are however very much on my list.

Let's pack panniers with my on the go kitchen, let's add a book, a camera, and some pen and paper.
Let's check the tyres pressure, change the brake pads, and dust the saddle.
Let's ride to my local park and experience the happiness to be found from riding a bicycle.