Because, Why Not?

I have had a hit-or-miss relationship with the bike recently. Up until January, I was cruising along with regular trainer rides, feeling some sort of fitness returning. I really should have known better.

In December I decided to get a flu shot. My kids have a way of getting me sick on a regular basis and in the most inopportune times. While I was there, they offered me a COVID booster, so I took that as well (forgetting I had already gotten one in October). Then they looked at my records and told me I was eligible for the pneumonia vaccine. I figured I might as well while they were poking holes in my arm. The kids spent most of the Christmas break sick, so I was trying to immunize myself against everything.

Because, why not?

I took a quick vacation with the wonderful woman I am dating to see where she grew up and meet some of her family. I was extremely touched to be included and spend that time with her. A couple days after we returned, I started feeling really, really sick. Great, influenza. Figured I had picked it up on the plane. Just when it started to turn around, I started violently coughing. Great, pneumonia. The x-rays confirmed it, and the doctor said it was bad enough that he was borderline on admitting me. If he would've sweetened the deal with a morphine drip kicker for that fuzzy blanket feeling, I would have taken him up on the offer. Instead, I headed home and hacked my way through the next two weeks, losing my voice every other day. I had never had pneumonia before, so I can't say I'm a big fan of the vaccine.

Over three months later and I am still feeling the effects. Nowhere near as bad, but I would really love for it to be over. I think a stretch of warm, dry weather would be great, but this spring isn't complying just yet. Training regularity isn't happening at the moment, either. I get in a good week, and it's followed by a week of missed opportunities for various reasons. 

I did take out the road bike for the first time last Sunday for a two hour ride that reinforced just how far I am from being fit. 45 minute trainer rides just don't have the same impact as long, slow distance. I get in some intensity on the trainer, and am pushing it as far as I can in the time I have, but it isn't the same. I have no base. I need to spend a bunch of time in the saddle to make any real gains.

All of my bike computer batteries are dead. Fully charged, they last one hour and then turn off. So, I ordered replacement batteries in an attempt to salvage the hundreds (thousands?) of dollars worth of obsolete Garmin technology. I also ordered a new Garmin GPS 130 Plus, in case my repair efforts fail. If I am going to ride, I want numbers. I want numbers to tell me I'm slow. That I'm weak. Old. Fat. Ill-suited for the activity. If this new computer has that feature, I will be saving all sorts of money and effort.

Because, why not?

Then I looked at the titanium gravel bike project that was half-finished and racked for the last five years. Generally I am not a fan of gravel as a road surface, but the concept of a bike better suited for early-season riding on un-swept asphalt sounded like a great idea. Big, cushy tires a full centimeter wider than my road bike tires to take the hit of the pavement cracks. A more upright stance that will give my expanding gut some room to move.  Since this winter wasn't, at least on the trails I frequent, my fat bike has been used primarily to ride with my son and lady love. I feel more comfortable on road geometry, so it will likely get used more often.

Because, why not?

A bike wrench that I have known and respected since I started riding has opened up Mad Moose Bikes. While I question the sanity of opening a bike shop in this retail climate, I really want to support him and see him succeed. I also don't want to set up the hydraulic disc brakes that were the original reason I let the project languish. While I fully am aware of the advantages of spinning death blade brakes, especially hydraulic variants, I just don't want to deal with them. Thus, this highly competent bike mechanic will be doing the work for me. I could do it myself, but my garage is full of specialized bike tools I rarely use. My time is precious, and I would rather ride than wrench at the moment. He's young and is far better than I will ever be turning a wrench. He gets the business, and I can erase the gravel bike off of my ever-growing list of unfinished projects.

Because, why not?

I'm tired of enviously watching the riders from the confines of my car. I want to be that guy again, in some shape or form. COVID decimated the road racing scene in Anchorage, as it probably did everywhere else. It was already in decline. In 2018, there were 23 mixed-gender road race days. This year there are ten, plus a handful of gravel races. Just the way things go, I guess. The last time I jumped in a race I was so in my own head I was a danger to myself and others. It would take a lot of miles and a lot of fitness before I would try again, and I'm not sure I would even then. I am not sure I have that competitive drive to maintain that sort of fitness. I think I'm just going to ride my bike as much as I can and scream profanities into the wind.

Because, why not?

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