Today we went for a cycle round Tooting Common. Nothing too strenuous, not for me, anyway. What it did prove was that there is a difference in performance between Jimmy and me.
When I was free-wheeling downhill I easily caught up with and then overtook him while he was peddling. On the straight, I overtook and gained on him without feeling I was making any effort. I leaned on his saddle and pushed his bike back and forth; I could feel some resistance and hear a rubbing noise. I made him do the same and he was able to identify it as the bearings in the rear wheel. When he had taken it for service, including tightening of the rear wheel, they had suggested that any more problems would necessitate a new wheel. As it's under guarantee, that's no great problem, and, I suppose, the consequence of buying the 'second cheapest in the shop'. I suspect that bikes are sold at a loss, especially at the bottom end of the range, in order to get people to spend fortunes on accessories which often seem over-priced for what they are.
We sat down by the pond, and there was not a human soul in sight. Every bird on the pond flocked to us, cheekily demanding or expecting to be fed. One of the swans - the male, we decided, and I christened him Mr ILoveMyself - got out of the water and preened and posed to show us how gorgeous he was. A small boy with Mum or Nanny went past in his pushchair. Later, we could see them across the pond on the beach. It became apparent that they had bread, and we watched as the ducks, geese and seagulls, and some pigeons raced over to them. The swans followed at a more graceful, regal pace, but soon dominated. They stood on the beach and ate out of Mum/Nanny's hand as small boy chased a pigeon on the grass!
A couple out walking came past and we fell into conversation. (We were hogging two benches, having leaned our bikes against one and then discovered it had been recently visited by a bird; I asked if they wanted a bench). They are both retired and make a point of coming out for a walk every afternoon, having spent the morning doing chores etc. They were asking if we cycled a lot; I explained that we had only just started. Jimmy mentioned that we had done part of the Wandle Trail last weekend, they recommended the Thames Path. They suggested Clapham Common, we suggested Wandsworth Common.
We made our way for the de rigeur coffee. It looks like the café may be extended, although it already has subsidence caused by tree roots, and any extension needs to take other roots into account. Such a location is almost a licence to print money. Even on an albeit quite pleasant Friday in November, trade was steady. I think quite a lot was school run; that's regular trade, whatever the weather. It is nice to see kids being taken home via the park, and secondary school kids on bikes. Not much evidence of the epidemic of obesity. It started to chuck it down, and I exchanged pleasantries with two young women. They were determined to stay put despite the rain - it will pass. I wasn't sure where they fitted in. Far too young to be retired, no toddlers, seemingly not on the school run (too young for that, sort of), no dogs, no bikes. Misfits!
It did ease off so we got going again, only for the heavens to open. We joined a small crowd sheltering under a railway bridge. When we left the Common, we hit the school run traffic, when the standard of driving deteriorates dramatically, and the proportion of drivers with no consideration for other road-users rises dramatically. One pulled out of a side-road into my path and then, without signalling, stopped outside a parade of shops, and I ended up in the grid of a storm drain, trapped by traffic in each direction. I encountered several more examples, somewhat less egregious, that irritated me, less for my own safety as an adult, but for that of the numerous children who have to withstand that daily.
Yesterday was swimming. We coincided with an aquarobics class. In theory, I can see the point of aquarobics - using the natural buoyancy of the water to reduce the impact that classic aerobics inflicts. But in practice, I am not so sure.
The class was held in such shallow water that I am dubious that there were any benefits from the buoyancy. It seemed mainly to be about bouncing up and down, which seemed less fun that swimming, and also less likely to get the heart pumping. I was rather scathing (privately, of course) but Jimmy said 'At least they're in the water, doing something.' I argued that swimming is better; he suggested that maybe they can't swim. Maybe they should learn, I suggested.
You see, my way of thinking, if you are able and willing to pay the money and devote the time to a weekly class, and go through the hassle of changing and getting wet, you are in the right place to learn to swim. And once you've learnt, you've got a skill that will last forever. The class was all women, none of them slim, many of them considerably fatter than me. I think some women and maybe some men are deterred from swimming because of a fear of exposing flabby bodies in public; they were exposing more expanses of flesh, for longer periods, than I was. I also noticed none was wearing a costume that was designed for their figures; I was, it cost me money but I think it was worth it - hey it even has an internal tummy control panel.
