stolen time

The breeze feels cool on my skin as I stand with my eyes closed breathing in the air around me.
I'm standing over my bike waiting for my Garmin to acquire satellite. It's eerily quiet, something i'm not used to living in this part of London.
At last, I am found and I can set off about my business.
It's 6am on a Saturday morning, I couldn't sleep. The heat of the last few days has been unbearable. I lay in bed unable to find comfort and in the end decide that a few cool miles before the sun does it's thing is what I need.
I don't have to be out at this time, but I want to be. I'm almost excited as I set off onto the quiet roads.
I stop at a red light and look around, nobody, nothing, just me. The ordinarily busy flyover is today devoid of life. I ride in the centre of the 2 lanes as i build up some speed and take my hands of the bars, arms outstretched, eyes closed as I feel the warm sun on my face and the air on my chest. This is what flying must feel like.
The High Street is dispatched with speed as I take a left hand bend and swoop past the ponds. This feels great.
I reach the first real hill of the day and i'm transported back in time to teenage years when I last cycled up this hill. My best friend and I used to cycle this route to visit some girls we knew. Feels like a lifetime ago.
The world's starting to wake up now and a few cars are beginning to awake from their slumber.
I pass a girl running in the opposite direction. I nod and she smiles. It's as if we're both in on the secret.
My pace increases as I push harder towards home, there's a slight descent on the road and as I curl into a tuck and push down hard on the pedals I imagine myself racing, not for the win but to launch the man who's going to win the sprint. My imagination works into overdrive as my legs become a blur. I give it my all and as my legs give out their last I see him power away into the distance as I sit up and watch him cross the line, arms in the air.
I roll back into my road and give the bike a backwards glance as I tuck it away in the garage. Perfect, absolutely perfect........