After completing my recent cycle ride back from Lands End, Cornwall the pressures of normal everyday life returned, full on at work, full on full stop, and in the midst of this I managed to overdo things and damage my back.....bad enough to not only impact my movement , but also keep me awake at night for a few days with excruciating pain.

Whilst this back injury knocked me sideways for at least a week or so (and its a recurring back issue from my late teens) my level of overall fitness must have played a major part in what ended up becoming a speedy recovery. So quick in fact I spent a good few days anticipating a return of muscular spasms and pain which didn't materialise!

I did however lose almost two weeks of cycling, and in particular training for my next cycle adventure, a 650 mile adventure from Inverness up to John O'Groats, then heading back south to Liverpool, all over 8 days. This adventure is a little under 3 weeks away so a couple of weeks without training was combining with nerves setting in about the scale of the ride.......how was I going to refocus myself, reset and most importantly reassure myself that I wasn't about to head to Scotland in a mental or physical condition that would impact, or even prevent me undertaking the task I'd set myself?

The answer was presented to me by my lovely (and loving wife) Jan in the run up to last weekend; very kindly (and maybe slightly telepathically!) she suggested I should get out for an early morning cycle on the Sunday, which in fairness was the perfect idea.

Bike moved into our kitchen for a quick, quiet early morning escape; cycling clothing laid out ready for an early morning quick and quiet change, snacks and drinks bottles prepared and an almost perfect forecast. I was as ready as I could be, and made the decision late Saturday afternoon to head out on a lovely 54 mile cycle through East Dorset which I had ridden a couple of times in 2022.

Whilst I wasn't born in Dorset I have lived in the county since the age of six, and grew up living just outside Wimborne in the heart of East Dorset. Its an area of the world which feels very much like home, but is also an area with a wide variety of landscapes all of which can be enjoyed on this particular bike ride.

From the coast in Christchurch I head through heathland and coniferous forests towards Ringwood and beyond. From Ringwood I head towards rambling farmland and fields (mostly sheep, horses too) and beyond Horton into chalk downs (Cranborne Chase) with lots of rolling hills, arable farms and views of North Dorset, then loop round through the Tarrant valley towards Spetisbury, and down the Stour valley towards Wimborne. Lastly the loop takes in the northern edge of Poole, Bournemouth and finally into Christchurch crossing the rivers Stour and Avon and around the edge of the harbour.

As I set my alarm for 5am (keen to make the most of Sunday, not use up too much of Sunday for the cycle) it didn't take long for me to fall asleep. 5am came around quite quickly on reflection, but in the style of a ninja I quietly moved around the house stealthily, got ready and headed out of my front door.

(Narrators voice - he wasn't that quiet, he woke Jan as he tried to be stealthy!)

Whilst the temperature was a fresh 8 degrees Celsius, with a slight north easterly breeze to boot, I eased my way into the ride with a now familiar route into the centre of Christchurch town centre before heading northwards towards Ringwood. For those of you how don't see 5am on a Sunday (and in fairness thats likely to be most of us...) its sometimes surprising to see anyone else also up, let along busy working, at this time of the day.

On the High Street the refuse team were out emptying bins, and several cars passed me , presumably people heading to work. However for the most part the first few miles of the ride were very very quiet on the roads, and apart from a few pigeons, a blackbird and a couple of crows there very little happening as the sun rose to my right hand side.

My first time riding this route in the early summer of 2022 was at the time the furthest I had ever ridden; the second time was me building up speed and strength prior to a ride to Liverpool; this third time started off as a test to check that my body had recovered from my earlier back injury, but within 30 minutes in the saddle I felt totally relaxed. The metaphorical journey over the past 12 months from stretching myself by riding as far as I had ever ridden before had come full circle to a test of my body (which I felt it had passed!) and moved quickly on to a ride to enjoy........and that is exactly what I did.

People often use the phrase "living in the moment", and its something I have better understood over the last year and a half, but I can honestly say that I was in a cycling rhythm where I was able to ride at a reasonable speed almost as if it was second nature. In this state of mind I was therefore able to take in all that the world was giving me through my senses; smelling the flowers in gardens or the pine trees I was passing, hearing the multitude of bird song, watching as the world was more and more illuminated as the sun rose in the sky and really enjoying every moment I was living through.

A quick snack stop north of Horton let me stop and take the view in looking back towards the coast, and once back on the bike I was able to soak up the changing geology in this part of the world as the chalk changed the landscape and in particular the wildlife.

I'm not naturalist (although I grew up loving David Attenborough's Life On Earth TV series from the late 1970's / early 1980's....) but I have taught myself a little about birdsong such as the Skylark, of which I heard lots as I continued northwards. In a large field of wheat (or maybe barley...) I enjoyed the sight of hares popping their ears above the height of the crops listening as I rode past.

After 20 miles or so I turned west towards Blandford and within a few miles I turned into the Tarrant valley; lots of beautiful small villages, gentle rolling hills to either side and a relatively flat (ish) road along the valley. I stopped for a second snack (obviously there has to be perks for riding, even early in the morning) and really took in the spot where I had stopped.

The river Tarrant flowed past me about a metre or so away, with a coot and a duck paddling their way up stream, the water was crystal clear and looked good enough to drink. If I wasn't on a bike ride and very much looking forward to my breakfast I could easily have just stopped and enjoyed the skylarks singing, hares playing or the river flowing past me, quite probably for hours - all three were perfect moments to experience.

I did however get back on the bike and continued my ride towards Wimborne, from the Tarrant valley southwards towards the Stour valley. With the exception of a Volvo estate overtaking me on a narrow country lane the remaining 20 miles or so towards home were also near perfect. I passed and waved / acknowledged / said hello to a small number of fellow cyclists, one or two joggers and a few dog walkers all of whom were out making the most of the sunny Sunday morning. As I returned to the urban sprawl of Poole / Bournemouth and Christchurch even the slight increase in cars and other motor vehicles didn't spoil the end of my ride.

54 miles complete, my body felt good and as I packed away the bike after returning home I felt far more relaxed about the Scottish adventure on the horizon, reassured that my back felt back to normal and through the East Dorset countryside totally at peace with the world........and an excellent breakfast with Jan before making the most of the rest of the day was just what I needed.