{"id":2159,"date":"2026-03-10T11:18:06","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T11:18:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/singlespeed.cc\/?p=2159"},"modified":"2026-03-10T12:35:29","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T12:35:29","slug":"unfit-on-the-dawn-of-spring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/singlespeed.cc\/?p=2159","title":{"rendered":"Unfit on the Dawn of Spring"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I just got smoked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Uphill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Twice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


The first was by two elderly gentlemen in their late 60’s, flying uphill on Hazelmere Road, Creswell (Derbyshire). I didn’t even hear the dudes coming.

I heard the humming car behind me, but not the bikes. Whisper quiet. They must have been on my wheel for a few minutes before the brisk, “Good morning, goodbye”<\/em> salut, and that was it.

Gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Flew uphill on that 3% and left me huffing and puffing like I was standing still. The second failure of the day was orchastrated by another nice gentleman who coasted past my rig near Elmton. Also on a hill, and like the previous two, all three were on vintage, light weight rim brake builds.

Just like my lightweight Vernon Barker<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
As a Sheffield rider, I’m a little biased – but I think Vernon Barker make the best light weight steel bikes in England.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

So no excuses.
Still smoked.
The slowest ride of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It must be my fitness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I ain’t been in shape since I stopped my morning single speed sprints, and midnight burners on fixed gear. Things just haven’t been the same since I saw that ghost on Markland Lane. The woods haven’t been the same since I saw that cheetah when I rolled back from Welbeck Farm<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
I grew up in Southern Africa as a child and know the difference between dog and wild cat paws. There’s only one animal that I know of with such a foot span, and claws this deep – and that wild cat definitely isn’t native to Derbyshire, UK. (unedited pic from 02\/11\/25)<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Life just hasn’t been the same since I saw those wild cat prints behind the village. Hill climbs just haven’t been the same since that black panther hissed at me as I struggled on a 9% burner on the edge our local Kiveton fields.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deep down I’m still scared, fearful and now ashamed.
Eating chocolates daily, while boozing on sugar’d up tea like a crazed fiend.

A fat relapse, again.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
3 December 2023<\/strong> – Hazelmere Road, Creswell (Derbyshire) – Can you see the footprints? No? <\/em>Yea, me neither. Problem is, a few seconds before this picture was taken, a woman in her late 40’s had slowly walked past my Dawes bike. I was holding up my phone to frame the scene, tinker-quiet lady ignored me when I tried to say ‘good morning’<\/em>. Oddly she glared blank up the road, and kept walking in silence. She left no footprints on the fresh snow. Rudest ghost I’ve ever seen.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Fruits be damned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overweight again since adopting gears all winter and now dropped on hills by my peers at the dawn of spring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This needs to change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Somehow, I need to face my fears again.<\/strong>
Cats, ghosts, chocs, f%@! ’em.
This is as honest as it gets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fear shouldn’t make me cry like this.

I gotta kill, then bury this Fear m*therf$%ker somewhere out there in Whitwell Wood.<\/em>

This has been decided.
Today.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I just got smoked. Uphill. Twice. The first was by two elderly gentlemen in their late 60’s, flying uphill on Hazelmere Road, Creswell (Derbyshire). I didn’t even hear the dudes coming. I heard the humming car behind me, but not the bikes. Whisper quiet. They must have been on my wheel for a few minutes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2160,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[33,28,6,25,56,57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-derbyshire","category-health-fitness","category-nature","category-nottinghamshire","category-sheffield","category-south-yorkshire"],"yoast_head":"\nUnfit on the Dawn of Spring - SingleSpeedCC<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Somehow, I need to face my fears again. Cats, ghosts, chocs, f%@! 'em. This is as honest as it gets.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/singlespeed.cc\/?p=2159\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Unfit on the Dawn of Spring - SingleSpeedCC\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Somehow, I need to face my fears again. Cats, ghosts, chocs, f%@! 'em. This is as honest as it gets.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/singlespeed.cc\/?p=2159\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SingleSpeedCC\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-10T11:18:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-10T12:35:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/singlespeed.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/SingleSpeedCC_Big-cat-prints-Creswell-Derbyshire-021125-SteveZenny-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"SingleSpeedCC\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@singlespeedcc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@singlespeedcc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"SingleSpeedCC\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/singlespeed.cc\\\/?p=2159#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/singlespeed.cc\\\/?p=2159\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"SingleSpeedCC\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/singlespeed.cc\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5a6826c707891069e3655c0bb3cde8ca\"},\"headline\":\"Unfit on the Dawn of Spring\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-10T11:18:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-10T12:35:29+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/singlespeed.cc\\\/?p=2159\"},\"wordCount\":514,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/singlespeed.cc\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/singlespeed.cc\\\/?p=2159#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/singlespeed.cc\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/SingleSpeedCC_Big-cat-prints-Creswell-Derbyshire-021125-SteveZenny-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Derbyshire\",\"Health & Fitness\",\"Nature\",\"Nottinghamshire\",\"Sheffield\",\"South Yorkshire\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/singlespeed.cc\\\/?p=2159#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/singlespeed.cc\\\/?p=2159\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/singlespeed.cc\\\/?p=2159\",\"name\":\"Unfit on the Dawn of Spring - SingleSpeedCC\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/singlespeed.cc\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/singlespeed.cc\\\/?p=2159#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/singlespeed.cc\\\/?p=2159#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/singlespeed.cc\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/SingleSpeedCC_Big-cat-prints-Creswell-Derbyshire-021125-SteveZenny-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-10T11:18:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-10T12:35:29+00:00\",\"description\":\"Somehow, I need to face my fears again. Cats, ghosts, chocs, f%@! 'em. This is as honest as it gets.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/singlespeed.cc\\\/?p=2159#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/singlespeed.cc\\\/?p=2159\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/singlespeed.cc\\\/?p=2159#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/singlespeed.cc\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/SingleSpeedCC_Big-cat-prints-Creswell-Derbyshire-021125-SteveZenny-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/singlespeed.cc\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/SingleSpeedCC_Big-cat-prints-Creswell-Derbyshire-021125-SteveZenny-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":2560,\"caption\":\"SingleSpeedCC_Big-cat-prints-Creswell-Derbyshire-021125-SteveZenny\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/singlespeed.cc\\\/?p=2159#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/singlespeed.cc\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Unfit on the Dawn of Spring\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/singlespeed.cc\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/singlespeed.cc\\\/\",\"name\":\"SingleSpeed Cycling Co.\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/singlespeed.cc\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/singlespeed.cc\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/singlespeed.cc\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"SingleSpeedCC | a trading division of Studio Yerai Ltd.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/singlespeed.cc\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/singlespeed.cc\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/singlespeed.cc\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/04\\\/SingleSpeedCC_5372_Raleigh-681x1024.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/singlespeed.cc\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/04\\\/SingleSpeedCC_5372_Raleigh-681x1024.png\",\"width\":681,\"height\":1024,\"caption\":\"SingleSpeedCC | a trading division of Studio Yerai Ltd.\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/singlespeed.cc\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/singlespeedcc\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/singlespeed.cc\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5a6826c707891069e3655c0bb3cde8ca\",\"name\":\"SingleSpeedCC\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/afad8ef406a4c9e58c75e84d87bca6b0ba119546beff8512e30a6a3a0453a2eb?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/afad8ef406a4c9e58c75e84d87bca6b0ba119546beff8512e30a6a3a0453a2eb?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/afad8ef406a4c9e58c75e84d87bca6b0ba119546beff8512e30a6a3a0453a2eb?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"SingleSpeedCC\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/singlespeed.cc\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Unfit on the Dawn of Spring - SingleSpeedCC","description":"Somehow, I need to face my fears again. Cats, ghosts, chocs, f%@! 'em. This is as honest as it gets.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/singlespeed.cc\/?p=2159","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Unfit on the Dawn of Spring - SingleSpeedCC","og_description":"Somehow, I need to face my fears again. Cats, ghosts, chocs, f%@! 'em. This is as honest as it gets.","og_url":"https:\/\/singlespeed.cc\/?p=2159","og_site_name":"SingleSpeedCC","article_published_time":"2026-03-10T11:18:06+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-03-10T12:35:29+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1920,"height":2560,"url":"http:\/\/singlespeed.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/SingleSpeedCC_Big-cat-prints-Creswell-Derbyshire-021125-SteveZenny-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"SingleSpeedCC","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@singlespeedcc","twitter_site":"@singlespeedcc","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"SingleSpeedCC","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/singlespeed.cc\/?p=2159#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/singlespeed.cc\/?p=2159"},"author":{"name":"SingleSpeedCC","@id":"https:\/\/singlespeed.cc\/#\/schema\/person\/5a6826c707891069e3655c0bb3cde8ca"},"headline":"Unfit on the Dawn of Spring","datePublished":"2026-03-10T11:18:06+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-10T12:35:29+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/singlespeed.cc\/?p=2159"},"wordCount":514,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/singlespeed.cc\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/singlespeed.cc\/?p=2159#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/singlespeed.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/SingleSpeedCC_Big-cat-prints-Creswell-Derbyshire-021125-SteveZenny-scaled.jpg","articleSection":["Derbyshire","Health & Fitness","Nature","Nottinghamshire","Sheffield","South Yorkshire"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/singlespeed.cc\/?p=2159#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/singlespeed.cc\/?p=2159","url":"https:\/\/singlespeed.cc\/?p=2159","name":"Unfit on the Dawn of Spring - SingleSpeedCC","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/singlespeed.cc\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/singlespeed.cc\/?p=2159#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/singlespeed.cc\/?p=2159#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/singlespeed.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/SingleSpeedCC_Big-cat-prints-Creswell-Derbyshire-021125-SteveZenny-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2026-03-10T11:18:06+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-10T12:35:29+00:00","description":"Somehow, I need to face my fears again. Cats, ghosts, chocs, f%@! 'em. This is as honest as it gets.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/singlespeed.cc\/?p=2159#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/singlespeed.cc\/?p=2159"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/singlespeed.cc\/?p=2159#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/singlespeed.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/SingleSpeedCC_Big-cat-prints-Creswell-Derbyshire-021125-SteveZenny-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/singlespeed.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/SingleSpeedCC_Big-cat-prints-Creswell-Derbyshire-021125-SteveZenny-scaled.jpg","width":1920,"height":2560,"caption":"SingleSpeedCC_Big-cat-prints-Creswell-Derbyshire-021125-SteveZenny"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/singlespeed.cc\/?p=2159#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/singlespeed.cc\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Unfit on the Dawn of Spring"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/singlespeed.cc\/#website","url":"https:\/\/singlespeed.cc\/","name":"SingleSpeed Cycling Co.","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/singlespeed.cc\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/singlespeed.cc\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/singlespeed.cc\/#organization","name":"SingleSpeedCC | a trading division of Studio Yerai Ltd.","url":"https:\/\/singlespeed.cc\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/singlespeed.cc\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/singlespeed.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/SingleSpeedCC_5372_Raleigh-681x1024.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/singlespeed.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/SingleSpeedCC_5372_Raleigh-681x1024.png","width":681,"height":1024,"caption":"SingleSpeedCC | a trading division of Studio Yerai Ltd."},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/singlespeed.cc\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/singlespeedcc"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/singlespeed.cc\/#\/schema\/person\/5a6826c707891069e3655c0bb3cde8ca","name":"SingleSpeedCC","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/afad8ef406a4c9e58c75e84d87bca6b0ba119546beff8512e30a6a3a0453a2eb?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/afad8ef406a4c9e58c75e84d87bca6b0ba119546beff8512e30a6a3a0453a2eb?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/afad8ef406a4c9e58c75e84d87bca6b0ba119546beff8512e30a6a3a0453a2eb?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"SingleSpeedCC"},"url":"https:\/\/singlespeed.cc\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/singlespeed.cc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/singlespeed.cc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/singlespeed.cc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/singlespeed.cc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/singlespeed.cc\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2159"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/singlespeed.cc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2159\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2181,"href":"https:\/\/singlespeed.cc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2159\/revisions\/2181"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/singlespeed.cc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/singlespeed.cc\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/singlespeed.cc\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/singlespeed.cc\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}