moka hussle.

miles: 15-ish

this week was a rough one at work. a power trippin' new health inspector, employees fighting, and business just getting busier all the time. one of my bosses, oddly enough, offered to cover my shift on saturday so i knew my chance to strap some garbage to my bike and go camping was now. after a long ride home in traffic, a trip to the bank, and a trip to pay my mechanic to get my car back left me with little daylight left. i came home and in a fury stuffed some panniers full of stuff for the night and after a few false starts i was off.

i knew roughly where i was going to camp for the night but that was about it. i rode for a bit and found an area that looked suitable enough and went to work. i had barely enough time to set up a tarp and hammock before a headlamp was necessary. i was going to be an early night, indeed. i made a quick bowl of chili and settled into the hammock with a graphic novel for some light reading before i dozed off. i pulled my bike under the tarp in case it rained during the night and every few minutes gave a tug on the pedal to get the hammock swaying. soon enough i was fast asleep.

morning came and with no agenda today i stayed in the hammock for a bit and continued to decompress for a while. no gadgets buzzing with notifications, no tv, no internet, no sounds of the neighbors' kids screaming, no landscapers, no traffic and no work. this was something that i needed desperately. i got up and got to the things that really matter... coffee. while i waited for the moka pot to gurgle i sat and practiced a few new knots i've recently learned. i felt accomplished and totally bad-ass. 

with the coffee ready i sat and watched the last of the alcohol burn off in the stove and then it was time to pack up. feeling a bit dirty and greasy and tossed a leg over my bike and started pedaling home. i passed a few people on horseback coming the other direction and bid them a good morning. it's unfortunate that my life schedule these days rarely allows for time enough to do something as relaxing as this in spite of how short it was. i suppose i'll take what i can get but i'm not happy about it. 

i had a blast all the same, just me and my bike.

wheel revelations.

miles: 9.8

i get it now.

i finally understand my relationship with bikes.

back when i first got into biking, seriously, it was strictly for fun. mountain biking with friends every saturday and sunday without fail, donuts and scabby shins. i couldn't wait for the weekend. while in college i found trails that lead from campus all the way down to a state park with a ton of trails and, when my schedule allowed, would spend hours riding them, by myself, just exploring and enjoying the activity. i couldn't wait for tuesdays and thursdays. biking equaled fun.

fast forward several years. i began getting more "serious" about biking. i started logging big miles, started working intervals into rides, bought a heart rate monitor, became interested in my lactic threshold, raced, lost, if i even finished, i knew how much my stem weighed and and the exact angle of my saddle. i lived bikes.

enter the conundrum of the bike shop owner... too busy selling and repairing bikes to ride bikes himself. my fitness vanished. i gained weight. i became envious of my friends that had the time to continue riding to their hearts' content. i loved bikes. i hated the shitty Huffy's that were the bulk of my repair business. i became resentful of bikes. i depended on them for a living.

when i would get the chance to go out for a ride it was a rarity. my rides were short and slow. i was out of shape and couldn't hang on anymore. i became depressed and angry. i was still holding myself to a standard that was unachievable. i would go home and ditch the bike, proud that i rode but utterly depressed at how awful i had become. i hope it's not too tacky to quote myself, but, in a past post from 2.12.11 i had said, "i'll ride some but it's never quite as good as i remember or as good as i had hoped it would be" and it breaks my heart to remember how i felt about bikes at that time in my life.

but i get it now. once i let go of the past it became so clear to me that i should enjoy bikes and the rides i go on for what they are not what i think they should be based on an old measuring stick. a ride to the store is fantastic. a leisurely cruise down to the town beach at night is superb. a mountain ride in which i have to stop every 10 minutes to stop being dizzy is just a great time for a photo shoot. a ride doesn't have to be 30 miles at a pace of 17mph to "count". i don't have to ride the entire trail system without stopping in order for it to be a "real" ride. i don't need to spend 15 minutes getting dressed and looking for a particular pair of arm warmers that match my booties. sure, i'll still do those things from time-to-time but they do no define, nor are they necessary for me to enjoy my time in the saddle.

i get it now. hey bike, i think you and me are gonna be alright...

smug. just, smug.

miles: 1.6

i live about 0.8 miles from the local super market so i often ride my bike there. the hardest part about the whole trip is getting the bike out of the front doors, which close automatically, and there are some tight corners. today i left later than i normally do, or it's just getting noticeably darker earlier, and it's a bit rainy so i brought my blinky light. well, at the first light i came to a woman rolled up next to me congratulating me on having such a bright light... by this point i was beginning to feel like a responsible adult and replied that it was "common sense". a few more words about how good it was that ride to the store instead of driving such a short distance and she was off. honestly, sometimes i make my self sick with smugness. strangers don't help that at all.

at the store, as is normal routine, i ran into some friends' parents. after some light chatting, as i am known to do,  i was off to collect my food for the evening. yes, i forgot to get a Brita water filter again. i loaded up my pannier and headed home.

 my 1.6 mile ride is short but it's still time in the saddle. it goes by quick but i enjoy it while it lasts.