This is a picture of me, during my morning ride. This is the time that I'm enjoying the most these days. Being out on the road either by myself or with a friend, you get a great time to think and also to look around at the scenery.

It's one of life's little pleasures.

Well, Golden Week has come and gone. It was an interesting time for me and really challenged me in ways that I hadn't thought possible.

My goal every year is to try and get as much long riding in as possible during this time. It's usually a nice time of year for riding and this year was no exception.

I had studies Google maps to find a few roads that make up a circuit that I could follow. My first challenge was about 120 kilometers south and then west and then north east.

I made it 100 and a bit kilometers through this route until I had to pull the plug. The reason, a huge slash in my tyre. Next time, I'll be more prepared but it was a huge bout of bad luck. An errant rock at the wrong angle.

This, in itself wasn't really as bad as I thought at the time. I'd made it more than 100 kilometers and I was still ok. But I felt terrible that I hadn't made it home.

So, 2 days later, I was at it again. I chose a different route this time. It was a route that was a lot harder than I had originally thought. Lots of climbing, lots of very steep descents and lost of really bad road conditions. But, I made it. 5 and 1/2 hours later.

So, all in all, I think I learned a little more about myself, and also got a lot fitter in the process. Now, I need to look at what I'm going to do next.

The search for the perfect mountain road continues.