The Thrill Of The Chase

On the way to work, I end up chasing a very nice tail. You could even describe it as foxy. Big and bushy it was, well ok, it was a fox. It was running down the road and I was gradually reeling it in. I could see I had it worried and then it did exactly what cyclists do when you're about to overtake them. It turned off, in this case disappearing into the hedgerow. Wimp.

I enjoyed the thrill of the chase and in fact the entire ride in, although I didn't think I was going to, all my limbs were a bit stiff after all that powering yesterday. Thankfully, L talked me into some loosening up exercises before I departed, which did the trick. I tell her how good my ride was but she doesn't understand what I mean, as far as she's concerned the words 'cycling' and 'enjoy' do not belong in the same sentence together.

It was a bit icy out but the main roads seemed ok. My work colleague who's just ditched his MTB in favour of a ‘proper’ bike made my mistake from before Christmas, used the ungritted pavement and slipped off. Twice. Ah, you don't get as much grip as you do with those MTB tyres.

As I sit having my first coffee of the day, I read on the internet that if you drink enough of the stuff could start seeing ghosts or hearing strange voices. Cool. If you also indulge in other caffeinated products such as tea (check), chocolate (check) or energy drinks (check), you're in trouble (check).

Some coffee addicts have reported seeing things that were not there, hearing voices, and sensing the presence of dead people or perhaps in extreme cases, foxes racing your bike down the road (check).

They say if you drink more than seven cups of coffee a day you are three times more likely to hallucinate than those who drink just one. Time for another one I think. Bring it on.

After work, I cycle to the pool, which is packed. In fact, they are limiting your time in the pool, not that I intend to be there for more than 20 minutes anyway. The least rammed lane is the fastest, lane one. I've not dipped a toe in there for a while. A first there's four of us, and then five. I am the slowest of all of them and it's absolutely knackering trying to keep up. I do my 20 minutes and crawl out of the pool.

We haven't got much in the cupboard at home, so I cook up some leftovers for tea. Turkey scraps and some ageing veg out of the fridge, heavily disguised with a few spices and loads of tomatoes. My hand slips with the chilli powder and I exit quickly to dog class before Daughter starts tucking in, I'm sure she'll kill me when she tastes how hot it is. Funnily enough later, L tells me that Daughter was full of praise for it and can I do it again... Is this a trap?

Tonight I swap back to dog number one because we have a special training session for our Crufts team. It’s pretty chaotic, lots of poor baton changes and a team member (dog) who insists on savaging the next dog on the start line. Thankfully, that's not us, Doggo and I run first (of four) this week, which might be how it happens at the event. Unfortunately, Doggo is about top of this dog's hit list and at our next training session in two weeks time we'll be shuffling the order and we'll probably try running second, so expect fireworks.