I know, if you are reading this – then you must be alive. But I found out the other day that there is a huge difference between being alive and feeling alive.

With Le Tour live on SBS, I could not help but stay awake to see the finishing kilometres in the early hours of the morning. Then it is up again at 5am to prepare for the Tuesday morning training ride at Homebush. I can tell you that after only 3 hours of sleep beforehand, I was feeling pretty drowsy -just going through the motions of dressing and starting out for my ride.

It was a typical winter’s morning training session, and because I was running late, I missed the first bunch and joined the second one. There was nothing much different about the session. But it was when I got home that it hit me. I just had that feeling of being alive. I can’t really describe the feeling in words – only that those of you who have had the same sensation will know what I mean.

The euphoria was only temporary, but it was noteworthy because it was a rather fleeting moment in time that left such an indelible mark on me.

Why does stress (especially the physical type) put us on such a high without resorting to artificial stimulants? And why does the same stress liable to produce the lows of depression also?

I don’t know the answers – but I know that a session on my bike can produce that magical feeling of being alive. And I now know that being alive is what we are – but FEELING alive is why we are here.