Like a boiling frog, my love of riding has been slowly cooked dead. I'm now burdened by the creeping modern paraphernalia of it. All the things I'd bought to increase my enjoyment of cycling are not.

I can just as easily ride a simpler bike with "normal" pedals. I can ride in normal sandshoes, a T-shirt and shorts. I don't actually need a GPS computer to tell me where to go and if I'm working hard enough - I have my eyes and gasping lungs to tell me what the heart rate monitor would. So I did. And it was terrific.

Reflecting on this has led me to think back on that Johnny Cash record. His music remains engaging because it is similarly stripped down; the songs are simple yet powerful. His musical constructs allowed him to focus often on themes and narratives surrounding the fate of the downtrodden along with other social and political issues. Cash's outfits were understated and his brand became the simple Man in Black.

Clutter happens in politics and government. As one industry player likes to reflect: political parties, particularly those in government, "get lost in the logic of their own arguments". Kevin Rudd came to power channelling Johnny Cash: his simple narrative and tune was: "I'm from Queensland and I'm here to help; you will get a new deal on health, an education revolution, a fair wage deal and economic conservatism."

But, thanks to the paraphernalia of ministries, COAG, 2020 summits, the overseas trips, the media spin cycle, the endless government meetings and too much looking at the political version of the cycling computer - the published polls - his music became like that of Rick Wakeman. Very fancy and complicated, but ultimately with no point. So, out went the ''just ride'' Johnny Cash style; in came endless Rick Wakeman. Folk don't buy Rick Wakeman.