I never get bored with cycling... well atleast so far I haven't. Not only do the routes provide never ending excitement, but the people I meet on the ride continue to inspire and feed me with their amazing wealth of knowledge, experience, and energy. I should feel bad for secretly using it to re-energize me... but honestly that's just the nature of it. I went out for a chill 54 miles with the ALC riders now training for Double Bay Double... the difference between these rides and the season training rides is there are far fewer riders which means a lot of alone time. I can't say Im a huge fan of that, it forces me to do one thing... be alone! You would think a seasoned yogi and mediator would be thrilled at that but the novice cyclist in me cringes. As soon as I am on the road, no in front and no behind, I start focusing on my breath and keep going. Climbing a mountain alone was no joke... the words f$%@ left my mouth MORE than a few times... repetively... as if it was going to make the hill go away. Slowly I chipped away at the 6 mile 7% grade... no end in sight. No distractions. just me. my brain. my thoughts. I was going so slow... barely pedalling. Something happened, i realized i was not working, and immediately i recruited every muscle in my body to start moving. And funny thing is ... it worked! I started moving a little faster and eventually made it to the top and then down we went... long and fast descend and i have a smile on my face as I strategically enter and exit every turn... wow... i can do this... i LOVE this... no sooner did the thought resonate in my head that I stiffened with panic... holy shit I CAN do this?! I doubted and the confidence fizzled away... hmm thats interesting. I couldn't wait to tell some of my rider buddies, it was no surprise, everyone had a similar experience some time in their cycling career. Learn something new everyday. I continued on the rest of the 20 miles with a new buddy who shared with me his ALC story and lended an ear to mine. It's amazing how open and sharing a bike ride, an awesome community, and a little bit of fresh air can make you. I now have a new fb bestie and a another ride under my belt.
:)
ritu
:)
ritu
