Back in Love Again

Out for a brisk one-hour-plus in with temps in the 30s/40s today. My first time on a bike in two full weeks, the longest voluntary break I've taken in the two-plus years since I got back in the saddle. I'm very, very happy to report I enjoyed myself. I was starting to feel... well, nothing, really... while riding in late September. Mind you, I had crazy fitness, zooming all over the place and motoring up hills, but I just wasn't enjoying it. At all. Guess I finally strung enough healthy months together this season to actually do a bona fide burn-out -- my first. Hey -- I'll call that much health a milestone!

Today, I found the corners of my mouth sneaking upward as I dashed down a local descent. It was a relief. I remember the years when I lived, breathed, ate and slept guitar. Every once in a while, I'd have a period when I just couldn't look at the instrument any more. I would take a few days off, then a week... and start to get paranoid. Had the magic jumped the last train for the coast? Would I ever find joy in the wood and strings again? It always came back around if I gave it enough breathing room. Hopefully, today proves the same dynamic true in my relationship with the bike.

I have been working out, though. I joined a gym for some aerobic and resistance work. I hope it will tide me over the icy months -- and delay the day I get on my @%#$ rollers until at least the new year. And I've been tentatively trying some running. I adored running as a young adult, but my knees are very, very finicky these days. Hope I can extend my jaunts to something worth suiting up for.

But today, I celebrate the velocipede!