Back in the day, Joe Piscopo used to portray Andy Rooney on Saturday Night Live, and always said, "You know what bothers me?" In that vein, I too will say, "You know what bothers me?" It bothers me how life gets in the way of biking. I want to ride more but instead I work more, do more tasks around the house, etc. It is my goal to finish the 2009 Assault on Mt. Mitchell next May, but the only way that'll happen is to get riding.
So, I am not ready because I have not been riding, but I am going to ride anyway, in the Leaf Tour, sponsored by the Greenville Spinners. It's 46 miles in the SC upstate between Tigerville and Table Rock. I want to do well, but at this point I'll be happy to finish.
Then, next month there is the Tour de Camden, a metric century (along with some shorter rides) that is part of Cup Week. I rode last year and averaged almost 18mph, and I'd like to do better.
For my training, I bought some new tires for my mountain bike, a dual-purpose tire; smooth tread in the middle for on-road, and lugs on the outer aspects of the tire for off-road. Put the tires on this past Sunday and while just test-riding in my neighborhood, hit a curb at about 2mph and went over the bars in slow-mo! It's like at the top of the flip I had time to think, "man, can we just get this over with?!" Once I hit the pavement, my next thought was, "okay, who saw that?" Took me a minute to get up and I really felt it the next day. The riding is great, but I'm getting too old for falling.
Thing is, I just want to ride more. Being on a bike is therapy for me, a time when I can forget about work and other life obligations that are weighing on me. It is ALWAYS worth the pain and expense to be able to ride.
Be careful, be blessed.
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