Have you ever been cycling? This spring my elder brother and I left the busy city and spent a long weekend cycling in the countryside. Our average speed was only around 14 kph, but that didn’t matter. We hadn’t come to break any speed records, or to get fit and healthy. All we wanted was some fresh air and a break from schoolwork. My bike only once went more than 30 kph, and that was when I raced my brother down the only hill on our route. We really enjoyed cycling along flat, traffic-free ...

Have you ever been cycling? This spring my elder brother and I left the busy city and spent a long weekend cycling in the countryside. Our average speed was only around 14 kph, but that didn’t matter. We hadn’t come to break any speed records, or to get fit and healthy. All we wanted was some fresh air and a break from schoolwork. My bike only once went more than 30 kph, and that was when I raced my brother down the only hill on our route.

We really enjoyed cycling along flat, traffic-free country paths. There was plenty of spring sunshine, but it was quite cold, especially in the morning. We didn’t mind, though - and we soon warmed up as we rode along. Our only problem was when my brakes started making a terrible noise. But I didn’t mind as it gave us an excuse to visit a cafe while a helpful bike mechanic had a look at it.

That was one of the best things about our route: every few kilometres there was a village where we could find everything we needed. All the local people were really friendly, too. However, most places we stopped at served chips with the meals, which soon got fairly boring. One night we were woken at 4 a.m. by a group of rugby fans singing loudly in the hotel corridor. We were tired and bad-tempered when we set off the next morning and very nearly got lost, but soon felt more cheerful when the sun came out. That’s what I like about cycling - it’s simple and it’s fun. If you’re looking for a short break that’s active and cheap, then cycling is a great choice!

What is Chris Hones doing in this text?