Written for the watsons_woes JWP day 24 prompt: On the Track. Picture prompt: [nearly overgrown railroad tracks in a tunnel of greenery]
When Holmes suggested we take a bicycle ride, I was uncertain. It had been years, decades even, since I had last ridden a bicycle, and my old joints were not what they used to be. Neither were Holmes', for that matter.
I suspect Holmes knew all along that I'd give in, for he lashed a prepared picnic basket to his bicycle as I was testing mine. I did not immediately fall off, which boded well for the expedition.
Holmes had planned ahead for more than just lunch, for the route he took was relatively flat despite the rolling hills of Sussex. The pace was leisurely and gradually I relaxed and found I was truly enjoying myself.
We stopped for lunch in a lovely wooded grove, where tree branches met over the road and formed a living green tunnel . Lunch was delicious, as it could not fail to be after our exertions, and we rested a while after, conversing lazily about what he'd been up to with his bees and how I spent my time these days.
The day was the perfect antidote to my recent feelings of claustrophobia from the sheer number of people now crowding London. I told Holmes it almost made me want to retire; he grinned and said I was always welcome to join him and the bees.