Attending my club Christmas lunch run recently, conversation revolved around the usual well-worn topics. Training seem to elicit the strongest debate, dividing those present into two distinct camps: those that rack up the miles commuting to work and those that don’t.

For some reason, anyone not constrained to time-honoured working hours of nine-to-five was deemed at an advantage when it came to the opportunities for ‘getting the miles in’ and the amount of miles covered.

A popular misconception seems to exist that, should you be self-employed or work from home, then endless possibilities exist for riding and training which are denied to others. Admittedly, there are compensations attached to this lifestyle but nowhere near the fanciful idyll of the daydreaming work-placed individual.

Ever a case of ‘the grass is greener’, anyone who can enjoy, or should that be endure, a ride to work and back seems infinitely better off than their leisured counterparts. An hour’s ride each way means 10 hours of riding per week. Factor in that the ride there is ridden at above level two or three due to being late as usual while the return journey can be extended by throwing in a loop, the accumulation and quality of work miles is considerable.

Pity the poor home worker peering out from his attic office, rain lashing down outside, pondering the chances of cramming in a day’s work, various extra domestic chores and the school run with a two hour training ride. Even when a window of opportunity arises, guilt creeps in halfway round the ride, torturing the poor soul and consequently hastening their return.

By the time the club lunch Christmas pud arrived, the commuters had largely conceded that their arrangement offered by far best way to prepare and maintain one’s fitness. Necessity and routine makes a better task master than spontaneity and opportunity.