A Day in the Life

It doesn’t matter how many miles I ride or how fast I go. Just being out there is exhilarating. I usually ride on my own, solo, for hours on end. So, some of the most common questions I get are; “What goes through your head while you are riding?” “What do you think about?” “Don’t you get bored?”

I really don’t get bored. I’ve even ridden the same 4-mile or 9-mile loops over and over and it doesn’t bore me. I notice small changes happening throughout the day and think about how remarkable it is.

To give you a sense of what goes through my head, I tried to capture some thoughts as I was attempting my latest 24-hour challenge. Here goes…

6:20 am.

• Here we go!
• Wow, it’s still pretty dark!
• It’s pretty cold. Glad I wore my long tights.
• I’m kinda liking this tail wind! Oh, wait. I’ll be going into the wind in about 10 minutes. Ugh!

7:00 am.

• I love watching the sun rise.
• Why would you be laying on a bike/walking path, in dark clothing, doing yoga?!
• Squirrel!
• Oh good, the organized century riders are out on the road, not on this bike path!

8:00 am.

• Hmm. I’m getting a little hungry.
• Good morning! (Said to another rider.)
• 32 miles. Not too bad.
• Squirrel!

9:00 am.

• There go more riders. Must be the metric century start.
• This is like deja vu!
• This banana tastes really good!

10:00 am.

• Nice to see some friends out!
• Hi Kathy.
• Hi Penni.
• Well crud. They are having the family fun ride of 12 miles go right along the bike path with me.
• Should I jump out onto the road for a couple of hours?
• This head wind out of the North is going to wear me down today!

11:00 am.

• I think I’ll have a PBJ.
• Ahh! Water. Time for re-fills.
• It’s getting warm. Maybe I’ll dump my jacket after this lap.
• No. You know if you’re thinking of taking your jacket off, go another hour.
• On your left! No, your OTHER left! OMG!

12:00 pm.

• OK – dumping the jacket.
• Can’t wait for this “organized” ride to be done.
• I think I’ve seen that person before. They must be doing some laps too.

1:00 pm.

• I shouldn’t be riding by that restaurant all day. It smells really good.
• Squirrel!
• It’s a beautiful day, except for the wind!
• I hate the wind!
• How should I set up my activity tracker (for work).
• Hey! That’s Aaron Comfort Dog! Hi Aaron!

2:00 pm

• At least the wind is calming down.
• On your left!
• People need to pay attention while they are riding!
• I wonder how many bottles of wine that vineyard produces.
• I love the smell of crush!
• Really? That restaurant is smoking meat? Yum!

3:00 pm

• 100 miles down. I’ve got to stop stopping and chatting!

4:00 pm.

• I can do this. My bottom isn’t even sore.
• My quads are a bit tight. I think I’ll stop and stretch after this lap.

5:00 pm.

• Hi Andie! Thanks for riding with me!
• Wow! I can’t believe she’s doing this, and she’s 7 months pregnant! I don’t think I could have done this.
• I miss Miss A. I hope she’s enjoying Rwanda.

6:00 pm.

• This pizza tastes really good. Thanks Andie! Better not eat a lot. I’ve got many miles to go.

7:00 pm.

• Getting Dark!
• Time to put my high vis on.
• Pick up the speed!
• Hey! Yo! (Yelled at truck speeding into my path from across the road)

8:00 pm.

• It gets chilly when the sun goes down.
• Maybe I need my over gloves again – hands are a little cold.
• Squirrel!

9:00 pm.

• Huh! Not a soul out here, but me.
• I kinda like this solitude.

You get the idea. I think about what’s out there visually. I think about what other people are doing and why they are in my way (LOL). I think about things I need to do at work. I think about my family. I think about how I feel in the moment. And, all day long, different songs go through my head. For me, things I see, smell, hear, or think about, trigger songs – mostly oldies (My goodness! When did songs from the 80’s become oldies!) or ones I listen to on K-Love.

With that said, my song of the day:

Ride on!