Under the Gun

I’ve been under the gun lately. I’ve had a big deadline looming at work and my little girl has a lot to do and get to. On top of that, the weather’s been great, so I don’t have any excuses for doing the stuff on the house and in the yard that I’ve been putting off. So. The past week was pretty much all focused on trying to keep my life from going out of control. I’m sure everyone feels like that sometimes. I tell myself that I can’t control everything going on, and I have to put a priority level on things, or there will be consequences. Well, sometimes my self just doesn’t listen. That’s when my wife usually makes a subtle comment like, “Weren’t you going to go for a ride today?”

Riding is often like therapy for me, only my health insurance won’t cover my maintenance costs. (They keep denying my claims for bike parts.) I get time to work through my thoughts, followed by a couple excruciating climbs combined with a few good downhill runs. I can usually tell when I’ve worked things through when I start thinking about how much snot I might have on my jersey from the last snot rocket.

Sometimes I think it’s the chance to think that I like about riding, sometimes it’s the absence of thought. How great is it to not worry about anything. Not the pressures from work, not pressures from family, not even the stuff you have to do when you’re done with the ride. Your only concern is how much snot is on your jersey. And it’s going to get washed anyway.