21st June 2014 Siobhán "Ups her Game" Part 1

Cycling Scenery and Scents delight the Senses

Siobhán writes:

Sorry about my lack of blog posts in a few days!

I was working Wednesday, Thursday and Friday- all 8a.m to 8p.m shifts- so I got on my bike after each shift for short 10km cycles.

However, I upped my game again on Saturday.

I put ‘me bike’ in the car, early Saturday and headed for home: Millstreet.

There I went for a scenic 35km cycle, along a quite country road, crossing over bridges and taking in the views of beautiful mountains.  

To my delight, I was only faced with one small hill, which I managed without getting off the bike...

The smells from the flowers at the moment is just amazing, especially the honeysuckle..

Editor’s Comment:

I smiled at the way Siobhán apologetically described her daily 10km cycles as “short”. I reckon most people would be pretty pleased to find the energy for a 10k cycle after a 12 hour work-shift!

Still it is true that most of the time when I feel exhausted after a long day at work, the evening cycle home perks me up a lot.

All the same, Operation Transportation Leaders like Siobhán and some of the other Bike Week Events have certainly, conspiringly inspired me to try going on longer bike treks at weekends too… 

Maybe I should get a better bike first though. The banger I bike around on at present is about 20 years old, with only 3 working gears…

I also definitely concur about the honeysuckle. Its seductive scent really seeps into me when I cycle past a patch.  For some reason, the sweet aroma permeates more intensely and lingeringly than when I walk the same ground. I was only thinking about it the other day. 

Cycling offers a much richer sensory experience than is possible in a car. In a car, the only external smells I ever detect are the smells of silage and slurry. You get those too on a bike but they are delightfully offset by all the delicious smells and melodious birdsongs.