Adapting to the Terrain

Spring made an appearance.  Albeit perhaps only briefly.  Colder weather is set to return.  Which makes me all the more pleased to have got out into the sunshine on my bicycle.  I've done two rides this week, totalling a little over 75k which has pleased me no end.  Riding in Richmond and Bushy Parks for the first time provided some food for thought, some of which was bike related, with the leftovers comprising yet more grist for the proverbial mill.

 

Living in South West London provides an abundance of fabulous cycling.  The two Royal parks doubtless contain some of the finest.  Completing a couple of circuits around Bushy Park at dusk was the perfect way to change gears after work whilst taking advantage of the recently longer evenings.  In fact, very few gear changes were required as Bushy provides quite a contrast to the rather more demanding circuit at Richmond where we found ourselves in good company amongst hundreds of fellow velo enthusiasts enjoying a Sunday morning outing.

I walked in Bushy Park on Christmas morning, so returning there twice this week and retracing part of my path, provided a tangible reminder that nothing stands still.  A lot can happen in 3 months.  And a lot has.  My life looks vastly different to what it did at the end of last year.  And radically different to how I might have envisaged it.  Which isn't necessarily a bad thing.  It has highlighted something I experienced first hand at several points during my ride - the importance of adaptability. 

Change is inevitable.  So too, therefore, is something else.  A choice - to stand one's ground, and attempt to defy this truth, or to make do, and conquer.  It is the making do that I have become interested in.  They (whoever 'they' are) say oaks grow strong in contrary winds, and diamonds are made under pressure.  The tulips in my consulting room lean towards the window - they adapt, and flourish.  On Sunday, I encountered several choice points.  They usually involved an incline.  I could fight the hill, and attempt the hill with grit and determination alone.  Or, I could use my resources (well, those of my bike, to be more precise), and change gear.  Being used to my beloved single speed, it felt a little unfamiliar to embrace a groupset.  But it made a lot of sense.  It strikes me that when life throws us the curveballs we never know are coming, but cannot avoid, to remain open to change, and ready to adapt to the circumstances is only ever an asset.