bliss

As I wheel my bike outside and begin to ride I begin to think to myself, "How lucky am I? This is such beautiful weather to be riding in. I am so blessed to be able to riding today." Cars begin passing me as I turn on to the somewhat busy Oak Ridge Turnpike. I continue, passing through a construction zone, something that has become pretty normal for Oak Ridge. My wrist and thumb begin being put through the rigors, going over bumps from the construction. I begin hitting smoother roads as I go on my way towards Lawnville. I turn off the busy highway immediately to a nice rural road. I adjust my IPOD and begin playing TV on the Radio. The song Dry Drunk Emperor comes on as I ride through the scenic farmland. I begin to think to myself, this is amazing. As the road begins to go upward, I decide to test the legs. I begin going faster, as the roads gets steeper. What an amazing sensation. The road levels off as I enter Kingston. The downhill begins and I test my flexibility by getting into the drops; still needs some work. As the rural roads continue, I think to myself, "This is the most perfect ride I have ever been on." As I begin heading towards my house, I can hear my stomach begin to growl. I am hungry. The closer I get to the house, the more hungry I become; I have bonked. With that being said, I still believe this is the most perfect ride. As I go back through the construction zone, the bumps begin reoccurring. I get into Oak Ridge and the pavement turns smooth again as I begin riding on the bike lane. I get home and think to myself, "That was perfect."
A ride like that is the reason why I still ride. I used to think nothing of beautiful rides like that. I used to take them for granite. Through this wreck, I have learned to enjoy every perfect moment life decides to throw your way, because it takes nothing for it to be gone. I am thoroughly blessed that I am able to enjoy an absolutely perfect ride. Despite the busy road early on, it is absolutely perfect. You know it's a good ride when you bonk and still feel amazing (in the sense that the conditions are amazing. not in the sense that my legs feel amazing.) I am blessed to be able to ride a bike!
The Crow

baby steps

Well back again in my attempts to have more updates. Things have been going well for me. I have rode for the past 6 straight days. Granite, none of the rides have been more than a hour and a half, but I'm getting the consistency back. Although I am getting the consistency back, I am still frustrated by the amount of volume that I'm doing, or lack there of. Don't get me wrong, I know it's not an overnight thing, but I want to be doing long epic rides. It's like I want to jump straight into 4 hour rides, but I don't want to mess with the 2 hour rides and under. I know I have to work my way on up, it's just frustrating, that's all. I was telling someone in my spin class, "It took me 6 years to get to where I was. I'm not going to get back to that point over night." I wish I could though. It's hard to continue, knowing what I was expecting out of myself this winter, and what is actually happening. It's easy to throw in the towel and say I am done with racing, I'm just going to ride for fun. But that is not the case with me. I mean I do have fun while riding of course. What I mean is it's going to be a challenge, I understand that. But isn't that what cycling is all about, the challenge? Do you think it is easy for anyone to complete the Tour de France? Do you think it's easy for anyone to even complete a century? NO! And it's not going to be easy for me to come back. Wait, did I just say come back? What am I talking about, I'm not having to come back from anything, forget what I just said. What I should have said is it's not going to be easy for me to get to where I was, in terms of my fitness level. It's going to be hard, but that's what it's all about. I still have 4 months before racing season. Yes one month of winter training is over, but I still have 4 months left. That is a lot of time. You may say I am procrastinating, but that is not the case. I am taking my time KNOWING I have 4 months left. As I said several posts ago, "My whole cycling career I have been in a rush, this time it's different." I am going to hold true to that. In general, if you rush through anything, mistakes happen. I am going to take my time with this. I am looking at it with a whole different attitude. It's crazy to say this, but that wreck truly was a life changing experience. It changed my whole outlook of riding a bike. I have learned a lot of things from it. as well as getting closer with God. My whole outlook has changed. I have changed. I would like to think I have changed for the better, but we'll see on that one. Either way, I am moving on from this experience as a better person. Thanks for reading the ramblings yet again. Til next time,
The Crow