I hate colds! When you have a cold, you’re not proper unwell. Instead, you usually end up with a stuffy, runny nose, a few sneezes and some coughing, but generally speaking you’re only unwell enough to be annoyed by it, yet not enough to even be able to feel sorry for yourself.
This past week I’ve been coughing and wheezing like a heavy smoker (I quit over three years ago, and was never a heavy smoker). I’ve also been suffering with a heavily runny nose, which annoyed me to no end.
This week I haven’t cycled very far at all, and I haven’t cycled very fast either. In fact, during a late night ride I turned back halfway after having struggled up a not-so-steep hill.
Today I had the opportunity to go for a decent bike ride, out to Yelverton and back, along the Plym Valley path.
All along I felt less able to cycle at my normal pace, but I hadn’t realised just how much worse I was until I hit the hill by Clearbrook, where you can leave the cycle path and ride on the road, up a hill.
Although steep, I normally manage that hill without too much bother. After all, I live in Plymouth and we have far more serious hills, such as Weston Mill Hill, or (gasp!) the killer known as Hooe Hill.
Yet today was different! Today, I’m afraid to say, I had to get off and walk half of that hill. I simply did not have it in me to cycle to the top.
I never though of colds as anything but annoying, and to be honest, I still don’t. But I was quite surprised by how much my physical ability dropped just because of a not-very-serious cold. Now that is TWICE as annoying!