I'm actually not that strong, Senofou, and I'm so old and decrepit that they've given me the bus pass and the pension - which is a lot older in Ireland than in Britain, though our bus pass is superb - free travel on all nationally-run buses and trains, and with a deal with Northern Ireland so you can use it there too - I must go up; have been meaning to cross the Carraig-a-Rede bridge for some time.

You're right, I couldn't carry one of the big blocks of compost, though I'm looking thoughtfully at the Ikea trailer - light and very good, and €160 - which would allow me to do so.

I do occasionally beg a hitch from a friend with a big car and buy a bunch of slabs of water and slabs of tins of tomatoes and baked beans, but less often than at first.

Thing is, when you have the stuff on the bike it's really not heavy; you're pushing rolling weight. I wouldn't cycle to Cork with it, but it's not a big deal to bring it home from the shops a kilometre away.