Don’t tell me you’re busy. Seriously. It’s the most common response going. It’s like a redundancy at this point. Have you looked around? Who isn’t busy? Is anyone NOT busy?

But you’re too busy to go riding? Well now that’s a problem.

Yes we’ve all got deadlines. We’ve got bosses to answer to, bills to pay, a never-ending stream of incoming e-mails to respond to, phone calls to make, meetings to go to, not to mention actual work to do. I know, because I have them too. Everyone does.

Our to-do lists are out of control these days. We link Google calendars with our spouses, children and workmates in the hope we can find a slot to digitally pencil each other in.

Some suggest that ‘being so busy’ is a way to brag about how successful we are. We’re all just so in demand, we don’t have time to skin our elbows on singletrack. We’re scrambling from one meeting to the next, accepting invitation after invitation, attending event after event, in an endless stream of commitments.

Then you Instagrammed a shot of your breakfast with 42 hashtags.

But the truth is, I know exactly how busy you are. And you know how I know? Because you told me on Facebook. You told me and 1500 of your other friends all about it. You twittered to a bunch of strangers that you just marathon-watched the entire Walking Dead series. Then you Instagrammed a shot of your breakfast with 42 hashtags.

Which leads me to believe you’re not actually that busy. If you switch your device off for a few hours you’ll be okay. You’re not the head of the UN: the world will go on if you don’t answer your emails while out for a ride. And blowing off steam behind the bars for a couple of hours will help resolve that frantic feeling of busyness you’re struggling with.

But you know what? The details don’t matter.

Do you want to come riding?

It’s a simple yes or no question. If not, that’s fine, just say no and I’ll move on. Just don’t tell me how busy you are.