Blowing away the cobwebs

You know what winter’s like for cycling – so many reasons not to do it. But days like today don’t offer any excuses.

It was bright and mild. Here in Normandy we often get an oddly warm and sunny February, sandwiched between a baltic-cold January and a turbulent March. The sky was mostly clear and stunningly bright. I was glad I took my sunglasses.

It’s on days like this that it’s easy to understand the term ‘bathed in light’. It was an immersive experience that left us energised – better than a vitamin D injection.

As usual, Trish took the lead and took us largely at random around the local roads. We cycled a couple of roads we’d never travelled before: that’s not meant to be philosophical, just a statement of fact.

One lane curved back and forth through a gentle valley with a pleasant downhill gradient. The road surface was perfectly smooth. It was as though it was made to cycle – coasting down the road was like flying in a dream.

I now have the perfect camera for cycling. The Sony RX10 III bridge camera is reasonably light but with a great zoom range and excellent raw image quality. And, for a photographer, cycling is the perfect way of moving through the landscape because you’re so connected with it, can stop easily to grab the shots you see, but can also travel on reasonably fast.

So, for example, when we spotted the actual My Little Pony, who was obviously taking a winter break in Normandy, it was easy to stop and grab a shot.

But – and especially on days like this – there’s a dilemma. As a photographer, I want to stop every 100 metres and take a shot. But as a cyclist I don’t want to interrupt the euphoric sensation of soaring across the landscape.