Why would I even consider acting my age?

I'm back in the saddle now that the weather has improved

I like Orford, and this morning had a coffee at the cafe near the quay. Two sunny days and I just had to get out on bike. I don’t like cold wet days, and so have been using the gym rather than going out and getting wet. I must be getting soft.

Some would say I should have acted my age (70) and started with a short ride, but I like Orford and so went out via Friston, Snape and Iken, and returned via Tunstall and Blaxhall. That was, according to Strava, 29.9 miles. (I was tempted to go up and down the road to make it 30, but chose not to.)

The blackthorn is coming into flower, I saw a sparrowhawk lift some roadkill in its talons just ahead of me and fly into the roadside woodland to eat it, and lots of squirrels. It felt good to be alive, great to be giving my legs a proper workout, and a delight to be in Suffolk where I can truly feel at home.

I realised while riding home that I am still saying yes too easily, and need to be even tougher in managing my time. Some might think it crazy to say no to people so that I have time to ride my bike and think, but how can an author be creative if his life is filled with other people’s problems?

One thing I have realised, is that while I choose not to act my age, sometime in the next 15 years I will find that I can no longer ride my bike 30 miles. I watched my late uncle decline from cutting his lawn in an afternoon, to taking two afternoons to cut it, then finally leaving it for me to do on my weekly visit to his Essex bungalow. However much we fight it, at some point we all become old, inform and then of course we die.

So I won’t apologise for seeming selfish. My three priorities are my writing, spending quality time with my wife and keeping fit. Everything else can wait its turn.