Mother Nature and Me

You might not know this, but I am of Native American descent. This means that I am probably more at one with Mother Earth than some of you. That's okay. Don't feel bad. You probably have some things that you're way better at than I am. Like getting off of a ski lift by yourself without falling. I am terrible at that. But back to me. Today I knew I needed to go for a longer ride since I couldn't go yesterday because of the rain. But today it was windy. And let me tell you something: biking into the wind is NOT A JOKE. I weighed my options, but knew I had to go out there. I decided to start out biking into the wind, to get the worst part over with right away before I'm tired. But first I had to figure out exactly which direction the wind was blowing. Here's where my ancestry and my connection with nature comes in. I licked my finger and stuck it in the air, put my ear to the ground, and checked the weather app on my phone to see which direction the wind would be coming from for the next few hours. Sure enough, it was from the east, so east I went. My great, great, great... something, would be so proud. And sweet mother of Pete, those gusts were not kidding.

But the wind didn't win this one! I pushed through, and rode a total of 32.82 miles. It's a new record for me, and I'm quite proud of myself. And hey look- I'm still upright and typing coherently and everything. But that's probably due to the giant bowl of Rice Krispies I had right after I got home.

I nearly hit a cat that was creeping across the road, on the hunt for some dinner. I'm pretty sure I would've hit him, too, if I hadn't told him to move. I saw some of the countryside that I had never seen before. I didn't fall once. And it only rained for the last 1.5 miles. Tonight's ride: Success.

I do know that if this trip wasn't something I was excited about and really wanted, it would be easy to give up on the training. This is hard work! I read a quote recently about dreams that I think applies here for me: "If you start chasing a dream just to get applause, you'll quit dreaming when the applause stops. And it will. Approval is a terrible fuel for dreams." I have set a goal-for me, not for anyone else- and I'm going to keep working and dreaming. Because I'm looking forward to the huge sense of accomplishment I know I'll feel at the finish line.

Here's one more fun fact: I do not have laundry facilities at my apartment. Also, I do not have many biking clothes yet. This means that I wear the same biking clothes repeatedly without washing them. Which means that right now I smell like a trash can. A very dead trash can. I'm half expecting my shorts to start walking around on their own soon. I think tomorrow is as good a time as any for laundry day. And right now is as good a time as any for a shower, lest the neighbors wonder what on earth landed in our neighborhood.