Rounded Religious Retirees,

Cycling evokes memories of my youth. Right up until I learned to drive a car and had to travel longer distances for work or study, I was always on my bike. I reverted to times of old this week and dug my faithful bike out of the shed. I’m keen on bogtrotting as The Bellyaches Massive will know but my new post is too far away for walking and definitely too close to drive to. The compromise is the bike.

I’m not a conventional cyclist. Peddling on the road is too scary and I’m not as brave as those guys. In the cycle trips of old, there was a lot of lifting: fences, walls, rivers etc. The classic example was an attempted journey to Shell Bay along the Fife Coastal Path/old railway line. There are many gates along the route – I assume to prevent motorcycle nuisance. After negotiating many stiles and gates, we entered a field. Still following the railway, there was a clear line of good, solid terrain to be riding along, until we reached some cows. The cows wouldn’t move and seemed rather aggressive. We detoured towards the shore and, inevitably, sand and, eventually, the need to traverse a wide river delta. Moisture followed. This was somewhat typical of these escapades.

Back on the bike this week, I still employ the same strategy. Lifting the bike of over this, squeezing through that, I make better time than in the car. I was thinking about bicycles in song. Quickly, I can think of three videos featuring bicycles: There is a Light That Never Goes Out by The Smiths, Motorcycle by The Rumble Strips and LDN by Lily Allen. As for lyrics, I arrive at Fox in the Snow by Belle & Sebastian.

I'm riding the novelty at the moment, things will change but for now, I'll make the most of the energy. I decided to tidy the garden around the bike shed to make the process easier. Of course, I went too far. We've been feeding the birds seed on top of the shed. These seeds have sprouted and I decided that I would remove a giant weed from the roof. I should have left it, but it ripped out the weed along with the roofing felt. I should have know better, but this weed was irresistible

I don't mind long journeys in the car; I amuse myself with albums. I've always hated short journeys; over the past week, I simply skipped to my favourite song on the album in the CD player everyday. Everyday, I listened to Song for Dan Treacy by MGMT and then I was virtually home. It's a great song but on a long journey, I'd listen to the whole album, Congratulations. MGMT seem to be combining aspects of 1980s indiepop, which I love, with prog rock and this album sounds much better than their debut, which I feel only offers up one or two singles.

A few other great sounds that I am drawn to at the minute are William Henry Miller Pt 1 by Meursault, Spin That Girl Around by Euros Childs, The Settler by The European, The Governor of Giving Up by Doyle & The Fourfathers and Natural Selection by UNKLE. I am intrigued by The Chemical Song by Citadels and can be imagined gazing into the middle distance to the Midnight Cowboy theme pondering the issue.