One of the things I really enjoy about riding is how climbing (also read suffering) has the ability to get you so focused on the task at hand that everything else is forced into the background.
Last night a bunch of us went out to Lake Chabot. The ride starts out on the 10 hills trail which is the perfect warm up in that it has a couple of small hills, but is mainly a rolling ride for the first mile or so. After that, there’s a fun little downhill and then a nice long climb behind the golf course up to the top.
On my full squish, geared bike I can downshift and just spin up this hill letting my mind wander and enjoying the scenery. On the SS though, it’s a “climb”. A long, standing, painful, grind
I’ve been busy….too busy….too busy to the point that life this week hasn’t been fun. And I’ve been cranky because of it. As a matter of fact, I almost bailed on last night’s ride with the excuse that I had too much to do. But, I didn’t and I’m really glad about it.
It was a gorgeous night and warmer than it’s been all year so once the climbing started, so did the sweating and it didn’t stop until we got to the top of the hill. The other thing that stopped at the top of the hill was the stressing out over stupid stuff and the lack of perspective. Work is just work, the lawns will get mowed later, the garage will get cleaned someday, the unfinished projects will still be there when I get finished with the ride….. and it’s ok.
What isn’t ok is to get so stressed about stuff that really doesn’t matter that life becomes a series of check marks on your to-do list. That’s not what it’s supposed to be. Life should be lived. If you don’t believe that, just ask anyone that is currently or knows someone going through a serious illness if they wished they had spent more time cleaning their garage….
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