Needless to say for those of you that know me I have a lot of free time on my hands right now. In the past I would have spent all day working on getting stronger by going for a run, doing yoga, riding my bike, going to the gym, etc. But as of late I'm finding it hard to motivate myself to do those things with the intent to get stronger. A few weeks ago I rode 60 miles and I was really beat by the end. Last weekend I didn't even take my Pinarello down off the rack. In Houston I had the MS150. I had a whole host of friends who wanted to ride. I knew the regulars on the bike shop rides. Here I don't have that. I don't think I'm sad about it because there a lot of other things I'm working on that fill my time. I guess I just wanted to acknowledge it. I have changed. My goals have changed. My life has changed. I am different and cycling has taken a backseat to other things. Don't get me wrong I still love it. I will always love it, but I just think it's interesting how it has evolved.
I have a friend who is just getting into cycling and it reminds me of myself 4 years ago. Keen eyed, ready to devour all the details about bikes, envious of expensive components and lighter frames. But now none of that really matters to me. I'm considering fixing up my steel frame to be able to ride longer distances. I told him that I haven't ridden with a computer in over 2 years and he was shocked. I explained to him that the numbers stopped mattering to me. It doesn't matter how fast I'm going or how far I ride because every ride is different. It only matters now that I keep up, stay with my friends and enjoy myself. I will always love riding so the number of miles willl just keep piling on whether I count them or not. My speed and strength will ebb and flow with my lifestyle but I will always love riding. Nothing else matters. So I stopped thinking about the numbers.
And yes I think of it as a relationship with cycling or with my bike. I usually think of my bike as a person. They are a part of the trip, experience, ride. I think I mentioned that my steel bike is named Frankenstein. And I just picked a name for my Pinarello, Amico. Who knows maybe when I get all my ducks in a row I'll pick some new crazy ride to do and start training again. I got wind of a 140 mile ride to San Diego in July and I am tempted...
