The Need for Steady Pace

In my long distance walks I have often observed how, as a means of travel, it places you in an intimate relationship with the terrain through which you move; the sights, sounds and smells are all sensed as you move slowly through the landscape. Driving is at the other end of the spectrum: in a world flattened and tarmaced for speed you watch the world go past through glass, detached and largely unaffected by all that you pass through. Cycling sits somewhere in the middle. It may give you the ability to cover a number of miles each day, and at a pace that has more intimacy with your surroundings than speeding by in a car, but it is dawning on me that you do need to maintain a fairly steady tempo to make sure you get through those miles. To read a sign or take a photograph takes no effort when walking, you simply slow your pace for a moment. But when cycling, each occasion requires you slow down, stop and then set off again and it has a big impact on your average speed. There are a lot of information signs along the EV6 and those that know me will also know how it pains me to not try and read every one, but to do so would add significant time to my day. A friend who has visited De Vinci's house said it was disappointing I had not managed to see it. I agree, but an hour or so spent sightseeing is a luxury I can not afford when trying to cover 70 miles in the day on a loaded bike.

At the moment it is a balance between making the distance and catching the sights, a balance I try to meet through choosing my stopping points. Even so, visiting chateaus or museums is still not on the cards except for days off. Maybe later in the trip, as I get stronger, the thought of rushing to catch a museum before it closes just having arrived at my destination might be something I could embrace. But not now. For the moment I will be seeing a lot but missing so much.