mashby

Holly had explained to me that Sharie really wanted me to sing in choir today, so I woke up early to make sure that I got my ride in first thing. Although I was able to ride yesterday, I didn’t like feeling that I had to squeeze it in. I’ve grown accustomed to my morning ride being the first thing of the day. I’m not a morning person, so this is quite a statement.

Late Friday afternoon Bob called me to let me know that Juliet was OK. He explained that he had to replace one cable, a couple of spokes, the chain and the bottom bracket. He said once he opened it up, the bracket was completely stripped and it was just metal on metal. Nice. Once Halloween was over, I sprinted over to REI to pick her up. I didn’t ride her much, but I could tell just how smooth the ride was. It was like butta.

After my glorious ride yesterday morning, I took my bicycle into the shop at REI. I try and support my local bike shop, but Allanti seems to be primarily a racing shop and I haven’t clicked yet with the guys there like I have at REI. I know it’s a chain, but it feels like […]

If you’ve been keeping up with my workout log, or if you’ve taken a peek at the new travelogue I’ve been writing, then you know that I’m planning on taking a short bicycle tour next month. It’s been 13 years since I went on a bicycle tour and I’m overdue.

I don’t know how to explain the feeling exactly, but there’s simply nothing like pedaling your bike down the open roads to places unknown. My last tour was in Europe and I spent 6 months riding from Ireland to Portugal. The first two months were spent riding with a childhood friend and the last 4 months were I went solo. It was a life altering experience and one that I’ll treasure forever. That tour was done just after I graduated from College, which was the one and only time that I could have taken such a trip. I was old enough to know how to stay out of most trouble, but not too old not to take a little risk. It was also the only time where I wasn’t saddled with responsibility and could afford those six months. Quite frankly, it was the most freedom that I’ve ever known.

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This morning my alarm went off at 5:00am and thankfully I had crashed early the night before, so I was able to stay awake. I was bound and determined to go riding this morning, but I knew that I had a lot of work to do to make it happen. I hobbled downstairs and into the garage. Tumini, our new outdoor cat, was sleeping next to the water heater. She took a peek at me, but quickly curled back up to go to sleep. It was way to early for her. In shorts and a sweater, I stood before Juliet, sans coffee, and got to work.

Yesterday, when my alarm went off at 5:30am, I attempted to reset the alarm for 6:00am, but in my daze it appears that I didn’t get it set. So 6:00am came and went and a little after 7:00am my eyes opened and I had that moment of confusion and panic where you’re not sure what’s going on, then you realize that you’ve been asleep and that you’ve woken up on your own, which is odd because normally it takes an alarm… crap!

I didn’t ride like I had intended yesterday morning. I chalked it up to the fact that it was Monday and Monday’s are always hectic. Yesterday was also another misty morning, so I was extra sorry that I didn’t get a chance to ride. Determined more than ever to ride the next day, I set my alarm for 5:30am and went to bed early at 11:30pm.

I don’t know what it is about a misty overcast day, but those days, more than any other, are the days that I really want to go riding. As luck would have it, that’s exactly what today was here in Nashville this morning.

I’m a bit of a perfectionist, as anyone who knows me can attest, but in my quest to become more healthy I’m finding that I’m being more gentle with myself.