Sore on Day Four

07. October 2011 · Write a comment · Categories: cycling, exercise, fitness, good things, self, sidetracks

IMG_0806I started 30 days of cycling on October 4th, and have thus far kept to the goal.  I’m on day 4 and I’ve got to say that my legs are giving me a bit of a beat down today.  I’ll work past it, by taking a shorter less intense spin this afternoon.  Since I started this week, I’ve logged 51 miles, which has put me over 700 for the year.  I’m not a big mileage guy I guess, but maybe that will change.

Tuesday’s ride was a 17 mile ride over some rolling hills and the gentle flatness of the B&A trail near my house.  Wednesday was a simple end of the trail and back kind of day, and yesterday was a 21 mile ride over rolling hills and the B&A trail again.  Today, I plan to get out after my last concall for work and hit the trial for a slower recovery ride spin.  That will probably tack on an additional 12-13 miles and put me around 63 or 64 for miles for the work week.

I am probably going to get up and join my local group ride tomorrow which will put another 26 on the odometer, but it is an early ride on a Saturday, so I may have to sleep in on that one.  We’ll see.

Can I do 30 days of cycling?

05. October 2011 · Write a comment · Categories: cycling, daily life, exercise, fitness, good things, self, sidetracks, struggles

IMG_0851Last week, I’d made a commitment to myself that I would ride my bike every day in October. My first ride was yesterday, October 4th. Track record, 1 and 3.

If there’s one thing I’m good at, its being hard on myself. There are a number of good reasons why I didn’t get a ride in on before Tuesday, not the least of which was spending both Saturday and Sunday with Mr. Grey. I’ve also got this pesky thing called a job. Monday I had to go up to Philadelphia for a meeting, which wiped out the entire day. In fact, today is the first day this week that I haven’t had a 2 hour drive in the morning. Tomorrow is a different story.

I’ve tried to do 30 day challenges and even 365 projects in the past, and I almost always end up failing for some reason or another. In the past I’ve been hard on myself about it. That’s counter-productive at best.

Maybe my life just isn’t set up for doing something every day. Or maybe I need to be less stringent on things like start and stop dates. Sure, starting 30 days of cycling on the first of the month makes it clean and tidy, but my life isn’t clean and tidy. There will certainly be at least one or two more trips to Philly in the next month, and that will effectively eliminate the possibility of getting a ride in, but even if I don’t hit all 30 days, at least I’ll be out there more than once a week.

Here’s hoping.

Should vs. Must

19. August 2011 · 3 comments · Categories: daily life, self, sidetracks, struggles, thoughts

Killing Time

I recently read a piece on the minimalists that suggested replacing the word should with the word must when performing self introspection. To say that there’s an immediate impact on my perception would be an understatement. When we move from saying should to must, we are moving from a desire to an imperative.

I spend a lot of time thinking about things that I should be doing. That’s not to say that I’m a procrastinator - I attempt to deal with the mundane quickly so that I don’t have to deal with the same thing twice – but rather that I spend a lot of time thinking about large-scale things that I should be doing:

  • I should be eating better.
  • I should be living a cleaner life.
  • I should be loosing weight.
  • I should exercise.
  • I should be more understanding.

When I shift the words around it becomes much more meaningful. So, starting now, I’m going to focus on things I must do, rather than things I should do.

Geo Bachelor

27. June 2011 · Write a comment · Categories: cycling, sidetracks · Tags: , ,

Well, I’m a geo-bachelor again.  Mrs. TKD and Mr. Grey headed out this morning for a camping trip at the beach.

Yes, I’m jealous.

Work is painfully slow here in the mid summer slump.  Days like these make me thing that everyone is on vacation.  The entire business world might as well just put on an OOTO message from June 15 to July 15.

There is a bright spot however,  the slump brings opportunity — rides at lunch time.  I logged a good 13 miles in at lunch today with a quick pace of 16.39 mph average on the usual route, down to the end of the B&A trail and back in 47 minutes.  Certainly, these aren’t the most exciting rides in the world, but they do get me out of the house, away from the computer and phone.

There will be days in the not too distant future when I won’t be able to do these rides at lunch.  The pace of work will pick back up and  I’ll look back and wonder why I was so anxious about things being slow at work.

I hope you’ll be kind enough to remind me of this post when those days come.  You will, won’t you?  Thanks.

Why We Ride

26. June 2011 · 1 comment · Categories: cycling, self, sidetracks · Tags: , ,

NY0068Solitude is not isolation.  Solitude is the feeling of peace that comes through self introspection conducted alone.  Isolation is the feeling of malice that comes from deliberately cutting oneself off from the people or things that one loves.  Like many cyclists, I find solitude on my bike.

Time in the saddle gives me time to relax, recap, check in with myself and check out of the day to day humdrum buzz of life.  I need a good twenty minutes for this state to arrive, anything less and I’m still working the kinks out of my legs and still too conscious of the minor discomforts of the ride.

But after about twenty minutes on the bike, it becomes easier — the blood has reached my muscles, fully oxygenating them.  My legs awaken to a muscle memory from childhood.  The minor aches and pains fade and I feel fully alive, gliding over the pavement to the steady cadence of my peddling.

Moments on the bike become life affirming.  You pass the old guy in a bright fluorescent yellow safety vest.  He recognizes you and smiles as he give you a thumbs up.  You catch a glimpse of a foal suckling at its mother in an open pasture.  The sun warms your face on those cold winter rides.

During these stolen moments, a paradox plays out.  In the massive release of physical energy, your mental stores get recharged.  This is why we ride.

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