‘I’ll be all right,’ I reminded myself, ‘as long as I don’t brake or steer.’ Having chickened out of cycling to the shop on Wednesday, when the road was still glittering with ice long after noon, I took the chance today, figuring that most of the ice would have gone. And indeed most of it had, but the stuff that remained on the un-gritted roads was old and black and rutted with wheels after repeated periods of thawing and freezing. Which is how I found myself at the top of a hill with a long straight icy run in front of me, and nowhere to go but down – faster and faster and faster.
I didn’t brake – although it’s hard not to when every nerve in your body is urging you to slow down. And I didn’t steer – sticking with the rut I was in and concentrating hard to keep my wheels straight. And I was fine, in the end, although an ill-timed car could have been my downfall. But it did remind me – if I needed reminding – why ski-ing is not my sport. Whatever the opposite of an adrenaline junkie is, that would be me.
In fact I think the word I’m looking for is ‘wimp.’
At least with skiing you get nice soft snow to fall into, with extreme downhill bike-skating it’s just ice, tarmac and a world of pain. Personally I prefer super modified downhill shovel racing.
It’s a lot cheaper though. Credit crunchy ski-ing, anyone?
You don’t fancy trying to luge then!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/4464678.stm
Eagles may soar, but weasels don’t get sucked into jet engines.
Similarly, “wimps” (you’re not a wimp, you’re a published novelist, and no wimp could manage that) will be left upright and in one piece after all the brave heroes have floored the accelerators of their trucks and gone through brick walls and ended up with multiple concussive injuries including a finger like “a burst sausage”, according to the BBC news story.
I’m Clarkson not thinking Clarkson of anyone in Clarkson particular here, of course. Just figurativeling.
However, getting on a bike *at all* in this weather is reckless lunacy. So I take it all back. Sorry.
when I was young and daft, I pushed a bike to the top of Glastonbury Tor.
I got on the bike and after about 0.1 of a second of starting downward I got off.
good luck with the weather.
John
John – sounds like you wised up fairly quickly on that one. I think, if there had been a way of getting off short of falling off, I would have done the same
Mike – In my defence, m’lud, I’d like to point out that the road near here wasn’t icy when I set off, and the iciness of the more distant roads only made itself evident once I was committed to the descent. And if Mr. Clarkson thinks he’s hard enough, he’s welcome to have a go
Flighty – no! But I think I will start lobbying to make extreme downhill bike skating a winter olympic sport
i think the word yuo are looking for is rational
A Nony Mous…rational and living where it snows/ices are not compatible
Aaron
yeah, cause any rational person would have moved somewhere warmer. Spain is looking good right now…