Backing Off
After yesterday, I decided a nice easy ride was in order. Unfortunately, the only time I had free for such a ride was at 6:00 AM. That's 2:00AM in Alaska time, something I still haven't been able to shift from.
The alarm went off, I suited up, and greeted the sun on the Blue Ridge Parkway as I made the first few pedal strokes with the full power of 'meh'.
It soon became obvious that my left knee was feeling the full effects of yesterday's beat-down. I backed off a little bit more, just to be safe. I still have a couple weeks of this to go.
Then I noticed my left arm felt like my wife had spent the previous night flattening it with a baseball bat. It does sound plausible, because I certainly give her enough reasons to do so. With my left side basically along for the ride, I backed off another couple notches and discovered the joys of the small chain ring and big cogs.
This gave me plenty of time to have thoughtful conversations about various topics with the many deer that stood alongside the road. It also provided me ample time to fully examine the multiple types of road kill I passed. Buildings I never noticed before along the Parkway suddenly appeared as if they had been there for over 100 years. In many cases, they had, but I had been in too much of a hurry to take notice. It was a different perspective on a ride I had done many, many times before.
Tomorrow, if my left side recovers, I'll probably go right back to ignoring everything except for my own little world of suck. For some reason, I like that more than riding easy and paying attention to the little things.
The alarm went off, I suited up, and greeted the sun on the Blue Ridge Parkway as I made the first few pedal strokes with the full power of 'meh'.
It soon became obvious that my left knee was feeling the full effects of yesterday's beat-down. I backed off a little bit more, just to be safe. I still have a couple weeks of this to go.
Then I noticed my left arm felt like my wife had spent the previous night flattening it with a baseball bat. It does sound plausible, because I certainly give her enough reasons to do so. With my left side basically along for the ride, I backed off another couple notches and discovered the joys of the small chain ring and big cogs.
This gave me plenty of time to have thoughtful conversations about various topics with the many deer that stood alongside the road. It also provided me ample time to fully examine the multiple types of road kill I passed. Buildings I never noticed before along the Parkway suddenly appeared as if they had been there for over 100 years. In many cases, they had, but I had been in too much of a hurry to take notice. It was a different perspective on a ride I had done many, many times before.
Tomorrow, if my left side recovers, I'll probably go right back to ignoring everything except for my own little world of suck. For some reason, I like that more than riding easy and paying attention to the little things.
Comments
Post a Comment