A sense of achievement

Yesterday was a first for me. I cycled to work and home again, which not only makes it the first time I've made that journey on a bicycle, it was also my first solo bike ride, since every previous cycle ride has been in the company of Dave.

That means I cycled somewhere between eight and nine miles, sometimes on the road and sometimes on the pavement (where the pavement was wide and had no pedestrian traffic). I made it in and back without needing to stop, managed to get up hills (slowly I admit) and all without incident. I did note how many unexpected hazzards there were... Potholes and poor road surface, pedestrians who seem oblivious to bicycles and will step out right in front of you, dithering drivers, parked cars and their doors... But I coped and at the low speed I was travelling, had plenty of time to react, so all was good.

Today, not surprisingly, I hurt - mostly in the vicinity of my right knee, which really is not happy.

However, other than the expected knee pain, everything else seems to be OK... My legs don't feel like they've been through some sort of torture and even the saddle soreness seems to be less than it was after those first journeys a few weeks back - thank goodness for gel saddle covers - all of which suggests my general stamina must be improving, even if my knee is not.

A win methinks.