empty house during the day and the luxury of filling my time in the manner that appealed
to me. By spring time of that year, I had technically been riding for three or four years.
And when I say riding; I mean a total of 200 miles for a season. It wasn't something I even
really enjoyed. However, when the weather finally broke in the spring of 2013 and I only had myself to ride with, I started to do things differently. That's when I started to enjoy myself
and my bike.
Going solo was the best thing to happen to me. I got to plan my own routes; determine
my own mileage, and stop whenever I spied something that caught my interest. When
I realized I was the Captain of my own ship, it all changed for me. I started setting small
goals for myself. Stupid shit, really. Like, trying to beat my previous time or picking
routes that I normally wouldn't because of difficulty. I started to see my bike handling
skills and stamina increase. This only caused me to want to ride more.
When I saw the numbers 666 come up on my bike's odometer I realized I was only
334 miles away from 1,000. I had never set any type of goal when it came to riding
but that got me pumped. At that point I was determined to see those numbers before
the end of the season. Oddly enough, it seemed the closer I got the harder it got. An
early winter didn't help the equation any, either. That was when my two favorite guddies,
Kimbabwe and Mully, stepped up and took me under their wing. With their help I was
able to knock the miles down to 33 and I proudly did those alone. To make the season
that much better, with those two clowns I was able to add an additional 32 miles
to my total the very last weekend of December for a final 1,032. Not bad for someone
who never sets goals for themselves!
Shortly after this, Kim asked me, "What advice would you give to someone just starting
out?" And I replied, "I'm the last person on earth they should be asking." He asks, "What
do you think the one thing that really helped you was this year?" To that I answered,
"Myself." When I took control instead of attempting to keep up with others was when I
really started to enjoy myself. Once I started to enjoy myself it became so much easier
to get on the bike. Now, after the fact, I realized that what might have been the key for me
might very well be the key for others. Riding a bike can be anything you desire because
you are the boss! If you only want to ride a mile one day, then ride that mile. If you want
to take a long; slow ride from pub to pub, then God damn, do it! The only person
stopping you, is you!
And, that's what I learned in 2013.
