Training has intensified! Three more days before my Albany to Montreal bike ride on July 25th. This week, I have ridden 54 miles, then 60 miles, then yesterday a heat wave whopper of 49 miles. I'm scheduled to ride 68 miles on my first day to Montreal, but I have yet to ride that far on a bike ever! There's a distinct pattern emerging during these 5 1/2-hour training rides through country roads and corn fields. The first half hour I shift about on the seat searching for that elusive, comfy "spot" -- which I realize simply does not exist, and I must just "settle" in and enjoy the ride. For the next two hours, I gaze in awe at the beauty and vastness of New York state. People think of NY as a place of taxi cabs, busy streets, skyscrapers, and the Yankees, but the New York I'm seeing is one of friendly farmers giving away squash the size of my arm on their front lawns; and ready to pick blueberries calling my name. I'm a sucker for the homemade ice cream stands, too. My favorite is in a big red barn, ironically named "Pie in the Sky," but it doesn't sell any pie, just buckets of ice-cream instead. During the 3rd and 4th hour on my bike, I start writing dialogue for my new book in my head, and playing out whole scenes, wishing I could hot-wire my thoughts straight to a laptop. It seems that my creative juices kick as I near exhaustion and my mind doesn't want to dwell on the numbing monotony of pedaling and pedaling and pedaling. Then, the 5th hour--wow--that's when I begin asking myself, why am I doing this? I pray, "God, please get me back home and out of these sweaty clothes and into a hot tub. Get me off this bicycle!" I long for a glass of cold wine and a plate of hot food! I whisper, "Please don't call Dion to come pick me up!" About this time, I inevitably see a large pick up truck drive by (there are many of them up here) and I realize that I can easily throw my bike in the back and hitch home. But I persevere. I remain on course, and I keep pedaling, feeling Zen-like and enlightened. But, alas, that only lasts ten minutes. As soon as I see the road sign that says Oneonta -- 2 miles, I whoop, holler and plow on longing for my bed and bath again! So, what am I learning? For starters, it's that we can keep going no matter what, and that although our minds will try to trick us into thinking we can't make it, into stopping and giving up, but we can conquer those mind tricks and succeed. We must challenge ourselves or we will stagnate and plop down on a bar stool and toast to past successes and heck--that's just another way of saying it's all over. So cheers to all of us--those buying their first homes! getting married! writing a screenplay, writing a book, applying to college, and working on their individual goals--keep pedaling everyone! And do stop for some ice-cream along the way.
No comments:
Post a Comment