What do you think

its cold. get warm soon. did i remember everything. car. feel thirsty. car. man with dog. left turn. change gear. they`re watching TV. brake. car. slippery bit. drink. car. right turn. postman. its getting lighter now.

these thoughts are interrupted by fantasies of alpine ascents at the front of the peloton on a hot july day.

its raining. car. dog. shit on road. feeling cold now. how much longer? car. fingers going numb. drink. people at bus stop. pheasant. brake. car. change gear. bum hurts.

for ever and ever and ever.

some call this mindfulness.

The first third of the ride is spent wondering when my legs will warm to the task, the second pondering my university work, the third cursing my lack of fitness when I realise I've plotted a route that involves the last 25km being mostly uphill and against the wind .

If its cold & wet, why the hell haven't I got some overshoes yet!!

Otherwise I like to run through previous cycling visits to Mallorca & particularly like to recall my ride of 'Sa Trencagarrons' sportive; the only way to be able to ride the road to the summit of Puig Major.

Sometimes when I am sure no one is looking, I do the no hands running man thing.

Singing, that relieves boredom and may even fire you up. Whistling maybe, if you have the breath.
Trying to figure out how many watts you're pushing, your cadence, wheel RPM etc.
(you're supposed not to have indicators for any of these, except for speedo)
Looking at your shadow and watch yourself pedal.

I do these when accompanying a slower friend. When I'm alone(or with a faster friend) my brain does not receive enough blood to do any of these.

I coach my sons football team so i go through the last match, the next one and try to plan the training sessions for the next week.

What do i think about...? Depends on the circumstances.

If i've skived off work to go for a ride, i think 'what a productive use of company time this is'.

If it's Saturday morning i think 'why, oh why did i have to open that second bottle of wine last night'.

If i'm out riding with one of my skinny, Rapha clad mates, i think 'ok...i get it...now will you f**kin' slow down!'

Otherwise i'm with the limopit above, and it's conversations with wildlife - geese are usually good.

Have really good ideas about everything and then forget them as soon as I swing my leg back off.

Otherwise, I pretend that there are some Rapha guys to obliterate.

Getting warm again, wondering if I can fit the reflective shoecovers over the neoprene ones as I can't feel my feet, thinking of how much more competitive it will make me on the Sunday club ride and generally enjoying the dark space that provides peace and solitude with a small lashing over fear that the car will not see me, when it comes round the corner doing 60!

Sometimes I wish it was over and my legs just don't work properly. What keeps me doing it is entering the Tour of Flanders. Gives me a purpose.

I like cycling precisely because I don't really think about anything. To start with my mind's going all over the place, but after a while all I'm really concentrating on is where my front wheel's going and if I'm going to have to brake suddenly. It's a zen-like state of bliss.

But after that phase I generally start having conversations with the wildlife.