Then there are the windy days. The days when that first 400m South goes just a little too easy, like you don’t even need to pedal, like you could coast all the way home at 30kph. Then you remember that you have to make two lefts and ride north for 17km and you hit a solid wall of air. It is amazing what the power of air can be, even slight breezes can bring out the beast in me, I hate wind! It seems that on each of these true windy days is when I see one particular rabbit, er, cyclist. No shirt, rusty old bike, bent and grey (and quite old) yet remarkably tanned. In this type of wind he is normally standing up, pulling on his handle bars and putting in every ounce of effort not just to go forward, but to keep up just enough speed as to not fall over. In my head I am screaming “NOOOOOO sit down, lean over, make yourself smaller, don’t stand up and be a sail!”. As I pass him, (or buzz him) barely managing to hold my 20kph, all I say is “I hate the wind!” and then he is gone, only a memory. But the wind doesn’t seem quite as bad. The rabbit is gone, but the image of the rabbit, and the thought of how long it would take to get home at 5kph keeps the legs pumping.