Where I Am Now

by | October 10, 2020

It happens each season when the weatherman taps you to remind that this is the week. For me it was last Tuesday. Until then and for as long as I can remember, for as long as I want to remember, it was a pair of bibs and a jersey.

The thermals were easy to find. Hanging dutifully in a corner of the basement, they were next to the box marked “everything else.” The gloves, the arm-warmers, the base layers. All the armor one needs to fen off the elements.

By Wednesday my wardrobe changed into one I expect to wear until the snow flies. That’s when I no longer ride outside, and my walking routine commences. I’ve always walked rather than ride indoors. I need the fresh air.

This was also the week I (finally) accepted my present, one without races but – more importantly – one in which I’m no longer a racer. I knew last October that I was done with lining up. I began to embrace it these past few days.

All my life (so far) I’ve lived with, lived for, learned on, and profited from the weekends. These were when I played bicycle racing. I fell into my sport’s net as a teenager and spent my adulthood happily entangled. This no more.

I’ve been on my bicycle more in 2020 than any season since the last century. Perhaps at a slower pace, much of it. With the chain on those once seldom used cogs nearer to the hub. That’s where my comfort zone is now.

All This By Hand
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