A mate's house

I decided to go over to a mate's house today who I hadn't seen for a while. This photo captures the point in the 46km ride that the intelligent part of my brain cut in and highlighted that a motor vehicle may have been a better option on a 39 degree day. 

But that's not really the point of my story. At my friend's house a group of us were sitting on the verandah chatting about their morning's efforts riding motor bikes. The conversation somehow shifted to me looking a bit buggered. 'Yeah...' I said, 'I'm not sure if it's the heat, the fact I haven't ridden my bike for a couple of weeks, or the 240km run I did last weekend.' There was a simultaneous sagging of the beer guts that surrounded me. And a happy laugh. 

'Hey Jack,' I said to my friend, 'and to think it all started from here.' Around 8 years ago it was when sitting on that verandah, looking at the hills, that I decided to swap out my walking boots for running shoes and discovered my passion for trail running. The trails I ran along are behind me in the photo.