A super-short one, for a super short story.

I love the idea of legitimately sneaking in some exercise during the working day, slotting it in to save eating away at my precious evenings and weekends. Like banging out a few dips while waiting for the kettle to boil, doing lunges during a conference call (on mute!), or squeezing in a run on my lunch break.

A few days ago, I accepted a meeting request based at a client premises – a 15-minute drive from Sherwood Pines mountain bike trails. The meeting would finish around 11.45am, where I’d then typically begin the 2-hour drive home, more than likely stopping somewhere along the way for some lunch. I decided this time I’d utilise my full hour lunch break. And I’d take it at Sherwood Pines. On my bike.

Bike and kit loaded into the back of my car, and meeting successfully concluded, I arrived at Sherwood Pines at 11.55am. By noon I’d switched suit for shorts, shirt for jersey and tie for helmet, and was pedalling off towards the trail head.

Sherwood Pines red route – the Kitchener Trail – is debatable in its grading. The 13km cross-country loop is 100% single track but lacks technical features and has very little to offer in elevation change, resulting in a pretty tame mountain bike ride. None-the-less, unwrapping my egg-mayo sandwich and stuffing it with crisps, perched on a log on the wooded trail side, was far more pleasant than Trowell services on the M1.

Finishing my lunch, I stuffed the packaging into my bag and pedalled on around the circlet, rolling back to my car at 12.57pm. As I re-joined the M1 and dialled into a (handsfree) call with a team member, feeling admittedly slightly smug from my mountain bike lunch workout, I wondered how many other client meetings I could arrange next to trail centres?