These are the voyages...

I haven’t gone for an early morning bike ride in years. I prefer to do my exercise at the end of the day.

I have a friend though. I’ve tried many, many times to say no to her in the nearly 37 years I’ve known her. My success rate is probably 1 in 50, she is very persuasive. I think it’s the red headed Irish girl that lurks beneath the surface ready to pounce if there’s a hint of resistance. When that girl is in full flight you get onboard or get out of the way.

We had lunch on Saturday and she said she was going for a bike ride in the morning and I should come. I can’t was my reply, I have a pre-existing plan for breakfast.

Let’s go before, you can work up an appetite she said. I’ll call you and get you moving in the morning she said. I’m good I replied, let’s do it another time.

No, we’re going and I won’t take no for answer. It was at that point I knew I was riding in the morning but hoped she would change her mind.

She did not change her mind.

At 5:45am my phone rang. Her number is one of the few that I’ve set to allow to ring at any time. I might need to review that setting. It didn’t wake me, I’m generally awake by 5:30am these days.

Hello I answered with a tired sigh. Was there a reply? Did she apologise for the early call? Not at all. Instead, all I heard was part of Mad About You by Belinda Carlisle playing.

Something about you right here beside me
Touches the touched part of me like I can’t believe
Pushing the night into the daytime
Watching the sky’s first light
While the city sleeps

Then she says, we’ve missed the first light but the city is still asleep. Let’s go riding and wake up.

We went riding.

Towards the end of 2023 I started to make a pivot towards removing some of the digital from my life. I love my tech and shiny gadgets but I’d started to think maybe I didn’t need so much of it in my life.

Coincidentally, a watch I was given for my 21st birthday had recently stopped working, so I bought myself a new one as a birthday present in January.

I’ve had an Apple Watch since 2016 and always ensured I was closing the rings and keeping streaks going. Trying to make sure I scored those monthly awards. It was convenient for checking notifications and messages without needing to use my phone, tracking exercise and sleep patterns, using the timer and stopwatch, and gave me quick access to weather details (a minor obsession).

I’ve now spent two weeks wearing my new watch and only putting the Apple Watch on at night to track my sleep or when I exercise. I genuinely thought I’d miss the Apple Watch more than I have. There were a few times in the first week I swiped the watch face to check for notifications before I remembered it’s a normal watch, no data other than time and date.

It turns out the main thing I’m missing is the timer. I used it whenever I made a cup of tea. I brew tea as I don’t like teabags and the timer on the watch was perfect for a quick three or four minute countdown.

I’m pretty happy with going back to just a normal watch. It’s an automatic mechanical watch so no battery involved, just a spring that winds itself while I wear the watch. No need to charge it or replace a battery every few years.

As I said to a friend the other day, I’ve read enough end times fiction to know I can also trade it for supplies when the world starts collapsing around us.