I recalled my Aussie anguish after watching our amazing Tour de France and Olympic cycling stars. Apparently many more Brits will now be buying bikes and pedalling with a vengeance in an attempt to become the next Bradley Wiggins or Laura Trott.
I wish them well, but I won’t be joining them. However, I have discovered a method
of bicycling that could lure me back into the saddle.
Two of the best hotels in the Lake District are hiring out electric bikes at £25 a day. Guests at Windermere’s Lakeside Hotel and Linthwaite House can now glide effortlessly around the lake and up and down the Langdale Peaks. Bikes can be recharged at earmarked pubs, cafes and visitor attractions.
This all sounds very sensible. The views are breathtaking but the exercise isn’t. And while you don’t get quite the same health dividend, you do enjoy the other benefits of conventional cycling: the fresh air and wind in the hair as you admire the scenery, the delight of frightening old ladies by riding on pavements – and that frisson of excitement as you cheat sudden death under the wheels of a passing juggernaut.
So will the Lazy Man’s Tour de Lakeland catch on? Grow your sideboards (blokes only), bring your own yellow jersey and give it a try.
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