Ships log: "Flapjacks, Headwinds, and Questionable Life Choices"

No Gran Fondo today. No grand odyssey across the land, no triumphant century ride—just a modest 40 miles of steady pedalling, featuring some quality time with gravity in the form of hill training. Included in today’s itinerary: a climb I had successfully avoided for three years. Clearly, my self-preservation instincts are slipping.

The ride itself? Cold, wet, windy—essentially, a simulation of cycling through an industrial-strength hairdryer set to “miserable.” By mile 30, I was profoundly grateful for the latte, Wooden Hill Coffee, a beacon of warmth and caffeine in an otherwise bleak landscape of endurance. Even the Barista seemed surprised that anybody was out cycling today, "Are you ok?"

But today’s true mission was something even more ambitious than surviving the weather: learning to eat while moving. Historically, my fueling strategy has been simple—don’t eat on the bike, except for the occasional emergency energy gel when things start to go dark around the edges. Chase the Sun, however, will require me to evolve beyond this rudimentary survival technique and master the high art of mid-ride calorie consumption. The aim? Only stopping every 50 miles. The challenge? Not choking, crashing, or making a complete mess of myself in the process.

So, the experiment began. Homemade flapjacks were deployed. Energy levels improved. My dignity remained mostly intact. Success! Probably. The coffee, however, was still a necessary post-experiment reward, because some habits—like relying on caffeine to mask poor life choices—are just too important to break.

Progress is being made. Slowly. But then, this entire endeavour is built on questionable decisions, so why break the pattern now?