The best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men… Robert Burns probably travelled by bike.
As is often the nature of things, plans went awry since last I was inspired to write. While events would not have been the ones that I would have chosen, there are a number of good things I’ve been able to take from the experience, not least finding myself in the company of overwhelmingly helpful, generous and supportive friends, to whom I am profoundly grateful, here in the Basque Country. There is also a lesson once-learned, and slowly forgotten, to learn once again, as well as some street photography.
It’s been deeply satisfying exploring these towns with a single focal length over the last few weeks, and is a dimension to travel by bike that, for me, is as important as the cycling itself.
Years ago, in my past life as an aeronautical engineer, I was leading an exceptionally challenging program, one that subjected me to intense levels of stress for many years. Ultimately it was unsustainable and made me quite ill, it was the single most significant factor in walking away from all that 12 years ago. I’ve been trying to lead a lower-stress life since then as these days, thanks to those years, stress has some quite profound physiological consequences for me; I’d been largely successful I think, albeit with a few exceptions. Looking back however over the last three years, since the Covid situation changed my relationship with work and amplified the stresses of self-employment, I’ve been in something of a spiral towards burnout. With the fallout and recovery from being hit by a car also lasting almost a year I’d not been able to benefit fully from riding as a strategy for coping; in hindsight I rather suspect I was teetering on the brink before leaving home in August.
I am not inexperienced in working while travelling by bike, having been at it for years, and while I always expected to be managing a reasonable volume of work during this trip, the volume of demands seemed to spiral such that rather than recovering after cycling and enjoying the usually, and much needed, therapeutic effect of travel by bike, I found myself feeling increasingly overwhelmed trying to stay on top of what felt like an ever-increasing workload. Additionally, and crucially, shortly after my ride through the Sierra de Gredos, a service provider that I’ve relied for many years, on behalf of clients, unexpectedly dropped the proverbial ball and left me desperately scrambling to arrange replacement services for some business critical applications and get those back up and running with minimal down time and data loss; that old adage involving camels backs and straws would be appropriate here. Normally a few days complete rest sorts me out whenever stress gets the better of me, but not this time; eventually a visit to the local hospital for help was required. Two weeks on I’m much better albeit still tired and run down, and a single email has the capacity to cause an immediate and negative reaction. It’s a worry in itself, so having had to write off all plans for the high wilderness plateau in the east of the country I’ve booked myself on a bus to Santander and the boat back to the UK for Thursday. The current era of economic and political crises doesn’t feel like the best time to be re-evaluating and attempting to remould one’s relationship to work but it’s clearly a necessary one if I want to preserve my health, so that is my winter project I think as I work to finish existing commitments.
In the meantime, and yet another positive thing out of all of this once back on my feet, has been the opportunity to indulge in some more street photography; while not everyone’s cup of tea, for me it brings much satisfaction to a day that might otherwise feel somewhat hollow, and it only takes one good frame, no matter how ‘silly’, to bring meaning and joy to that day. Being able to spend more than a few days in a single place allows me to move beyond exploring the obvious and simply hang out and enjoy all those found moments that catch the eye.
Photographic inspiration can be a struggle for me to find at home, particularly because street photography is what I enjoy and Cornwall, especially in winter, lacks the life and diversity I find interesting; this should also be a winter project perhaps, to find ways to keep the inspiration alive. It’s been deeply satisfying exploring these towns with a single focal length over the last few weeks, and is a dimension to travel by bike that, for me, is as important as the cycling itself.
I love your street photography. You have a good eye for color and arrangement. I try to learn from your pictures so that I can also take really good pictures. Stay well!
hey, thanks for writing and that’s awfully kind of you to say so, thanks :-) I hope you have fun with the picture-taking. For me it’s still an ongoing process of change with regard to the things I respond to… it feels different almost every day… keeps things interesting.
It seems to me that you think before you write!
So sorry about your bicycle accident! Thank goodness you weren’t killed or critically incapacitated!
Perhaps your past experience with stress has bolstered resilience today!
Photos from Basque! Awesome!
Thank you for this! All the best with your projects!
Jebb
hey, re “think before I write..”.. haha I try to but it’s not always successful…! Thank you for your kind words, very much appreciated :-)
We were sad we were going to miss the “montañas vacias” adventure, so it’s not that bad you didn’t go, he, he, we’ll join next time. Re new projets, you can make a super-guide, and share with others your love for the things you do, cycling or kayaking, worth considering!! Safe travels back home. Cuidate mucho
hey, thanks for writing! Rubén and Eneko went without me, I was still too sick to do anything, but they returned early.. the weather was terrible, just days of rain and mud…! It is a very good reason to return as soon as possible and yep, you must join!
also, I want to say.. although the journey did not turn out as planned, it has been made a particularly special experience by you both, Eneko, and Ruben. I’m deeply grateful for your friendship :-)
Burnout is an absolutely real thing, and can take a while to come to terms with. And stress can build up over time, and deal a real blow to one’s body. I’m keeping you in my thoughts, it couldn’t hurt.
Cheers Arthur! and yes, it’s really damaging, some proper time out over the next few months is going to be very important.
I had begun to worry that something had happened because of the gap since your last post – glad to hear you are on the mend – look after yourself
cheers, and thanks for your kind words. on the mend and on the ferry this afternoon all being well :-)
Look after yourself Mike. For me your blogs, whether from an overseas adventure or the Cornish lanes & seas, are an inspiring escape from the stresses of work and what frankly feels like an increasingly awful world that we live in.
Hi Mike, there certainly seem to be a lot of headwinds at the moment… :-( Thanks for the kind words, much appreciated. Will try and keep something going from the Cornish winter!
Keep well!
Hello Mike
After reading and enjoying some of your posts, I feel that will share some supportive vibes, mojo, good stuff your way.
Good luck In Cornwall over the winter.
Chao
Sean
Hey Sean, cheers for checking in and the kind words! I hope you have a good winter too!
Hi Mike, I have enjoyed your posts and your recent journeys abroad.
Sounds like you have been going through a bit of a low point, yet you still craft and create such wonderful images and writings. You are much stronger than you believe, I hope the winter at home is kind and you get to enjoy your beautiful part of the world without the crowds and feel refreshed for the coming spring.
Steve.
Hi Steve, thanks for your kind words, I’m still a bit under the weather so especially appreciated!
It’s been dark and wet every day since I returned home which perhaps is no bad thng, makes it easier to stay away from my bike, hehe. Plan for the winter is to just try and relax and unwind and spend some time out and about with my camera.
Stay well!
Mike
Love the mix of colours and B and Ws in this post. Those pinks really pop!
cheers! I loved Vitoria, the unintended extended stay proved to be a super opportunity to get under the skin of the place a little more than I otherwise might have done. Fantastic place to be a cyclist….!
Sometime I dust off my old RSS reader and realize the meaningless of todays social media when I read blogs like these. Thank you for continueing with the old skool and sharing you socials. Beautiful pictures, very inspiring.
And about the words, burnouts are real. Hence many people specialized themselves in helping people to deal with it. You still have to pedal through the headwind yourself, but there’s no need to figure out what way to go al by yourself.
hey Michele, cheers for writing, and the lovely feedback :-) I feel same way about social media.. I find writing a blog post quite cathartic, I enjoy it as a hobby. BTW, have you checked out Cass’s new(ish) blog? https://stilloutriding.com/
as for the burnout, very true. I’m making good progress :-)
Glad to hear about the good progress. And thanks for pointing out to Cass’s blog change. I have some cleaning up to do in my RSS reader.