I will remember this as one of my most favourite rides when Andrea, Julia and I celebrated the gravel stage of the 2024 Tour de France by mixing asphalt with Gö’s own Chemin Blanc. It might be the first time that I felt my mojo is on the up as I defuse the ticking bomb inside me.

Long Walk

To speak of a ´Long Walk´ is a way of expressing the period when you must face your fate or the cold facts of your situation. It is also synonymous with the walk disposal officers undertake when they approach a ticking bomb. A journey when they are alone with their thoughts fully aware of the threat they face.

Bomb disposal in Göttingen has a long record of events and since I came to live here there have been almost yearly mass evacuations whilst World War Two ordinance is made safe (in 2012 two officers were killed in the city whilst defusing a device).

Life Bombs

One conservative estimate is that 10% of the 2.7 million WW2 aerial bombs dropped in Europe failed to explode creating an ever-present danger but there are also other types of bombs, and which are not dropped from the sky. These ´other´ bombs can be mental, physical or just what life throws at you. Shakespeare sums up life’s challenges in Hamlet, “To be or not to be? Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles And, by opposing, end them.”

Ticking Bomb

In human nature a ticking bomb sums up people who are liable at any time to go bang, being packed with explosive charge either because of emotional or physical stress and sometimes it is a silent killer.

Up to my heart attack I had been a ticking bomb and since then I have been taking my own Long Walk coming to terms with my new reality and questioning if my alarm clock continues to tick. My method of defusing my own personal bomb has been to face it with confidence with a desire to get back to normal, except of course it will never be quite the same again. Riding my bike is extremely normal to me and so it is a key point of reference in my recovery.

Sea of Troubles

I ride my bike not to escape my own Sea of Troubles but to accommodate them and as Horst Reinhardt once responsible for dealing with ein Verdachtspunk* in Brandenburg State said to the Smithsonian institute, “You need a clear head. And calm hands,” to defuse bombs. I try to achieve that by pedalling my bike and with occasional success.

Thanks to Andrea, and Julia for being part of my recovery and for a great ride.

*The term bomb is not used rather it is a point of suspicion.

On Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11829941393

Heart Attack Links

Danke Alles (Having a heart attack)
Flying in Gö (You can fly now – recovery from a heart attack)