Who needs a memory when you’ve got a camera phone?

Some of my regular readers might find it hard to believe, but I have interests beyond cycling. Admittedly, finding the time to do justice to my cycling obsession and immerse myself in all the other interesting stuff that the world has to offer can be tricky.

As we all know the modern world is absolutely awash with information and ways to share it; lots of it is trivial nonsense, some of it isn’t, and picking through it all has become a job in itself.

Add the relentless sleep deprivation brought on by being father to two young kids, which has caused my short term memory to all but mutiny, and often I can’t even remember what it was that I thought might look interesting to begin with.

So for example, I stumble across a great review in the Sunday paper for some new book, thinking “wow this is the book, the author, and the voice of our generation that I’ve been waiting for…”

(Okay, so I am prone to exaggerate occasionally.)

And yet somehow, despite my ravenous excitement, I forget every word I’ve just read within a nano-second of turning the page, and the moment is gone. I sometime wonder how much I’ve let slip – how many books, bands, movies and wines I’ve found briefly, and then forgotten.

Some things I’ve remembered:

Thankfully, I have a solution: in lieu of something resembling a half-decent memory I take pictures instead. I’m not really one for selfies so I fill my phone up with all manner of books, reviews, screen-shots, half-drunk bottles of wine…

You get the idea.

But as usual with me, everything comes back to cycling.

I’ve never pretended to be a racing snake, or a walking x-ray (or, as my wife calls those tiny mountain goat bike riders – a pipsqueak), but I do pay some attention to what I eat in an attempt to keep my weight down, and ride my bike to at least a reasonably respectable level (no sniggering at the back, please).

So it was with some trepidation that I took a photo of this recipe in the Sunday newspaper for Pain Perdu with; not because it’s tricky to make (far from it) but because once I’ve taken the picture I’m suddenly very likely to make the thing. A quick read through the ingredients and the method will tell you is probably not conducive to weight control.

Especially the ‘pan fry them in butter’ bit at the end.

Having said that, a perfectly formed slice of Pain Perdu tucked into the jersey pocket is surely the ultimate in highbrow mid-ride sports nutrition.

I told you I liked a bit of culture, didn’t I?