Crisis of Faith - Part Two
First off I'd like to thank my readers for their words of support and advice regarding my recent Crisis of Faith.
Now because my loyal readers are full of wisdom and I think we can all learn from them I am going to share a couple of their thoughts. First from my dearest friend and #1 fan Mattie - ". . . I bet it is the journey, the trials that you face and overcome along the way that make becoming the racer you want to be the sweetest part." Clearly she knows me well as I totally agree with her thoughts and doubt I would appreciate it if the journey wasn't filled with ups, downs, twists and turns. If 16 years ago at my first bike race I would have won the race instead of getting last I probably would not still be racing.
From cross obsessed blogger Chris we get the following - "And remember that a lot of this probably has nothing to do with the bike. You're more than a bit focused on work and finding work and other stuff, and so the balance has tipped -- but of course it's always most evident with the bike. This too shall pass, and you don't want to give up only to find out that you missed out!!" So true really as I always seem to be taking on more stuff to do and even though I was determined things would be different this year it's not. I think I've actually taken on more this year than any other.
All such good advice and words of wisdom and much appreciated. The funny part being that tonight I finally loved riding again. I actually had the best ride of my season so far. I think it just happens when you give up on looking for it.
Let me tell you about it. Monday is the CVC casual ride. With the threat of rain there was talk of cancelling but when I got home I just got ready and headed out as I didn't want to let anyone down by not going. I had to hustle as I was running late and the ride started outside of town. I got there and everyone was just getting out of their cars giving thought to whether it was really a good idea to ride.
Upon my arrival people were just getting ready to ride as the rain had stopped. WIth a team meeting at 7pm so what else would we do for the next hour besides ride anyway. It was misting a little but generally okay until about 45 minutes into the ride. Then it starts to rain fairly hard--you know the kind of rain when your shoes start to fill up with water and you're basically soaked. Suddenly it all seemed like so much fun. I was soaked, it was a little chilly and I was happy as could be. All the downhills and uphills just flowed and I felt like I could just keep riding forever.
So we head back to the meeting spot and head over to Barriques (a wine and sandwich shop) for our team meeting. Everyone but me drove and had a change of clothes. I dripped water all over the rather upscale establishment which was quite amusing really (not as amusing as my bike locking incident but I'll save that for a later blog post).
So anyway, I settled in with a nice hot Chai and did my best to preside over the meeting. Then it was time to head home and it was dark and raining steady and I was pretty wet still. A sensible person would have talked someone into a ride but I didn't really want to get anyone's car muddy and wet. Besides riding sounded like so much fun. So I'm heading back into town and it's raining and I'm soaking wet and none too warm and it is dark and there is crap all over the road and I can't stop smiling. Good thing it was dark or people would have thought (known?) I was a lunatic.
And when I came dripping into the house, totally soaked and covered in road grime I told Dave that I was meant to be a cross racer.
Now because my loyal readers are full of wisdom and I think we can all learn from them I am going to share a couple of their thoughts. First from my dearest friend and #1 fan Mattie - ". . . I bet it is the journey, the trials that you face and overcome along the way that make becoming the racer you want to be the sweetest part." Clearly she knows me well as I totally agree with her thoughts and doubt I would appreciate it if the journey wasn't filled with ups, downs, twists and turns. If 16 years ago at my first bike race I would have won the race instead of getting last I probably would not still be racing.
From cross obsessed blogger Chris we get the following - "And remember that a lot of this probably has nothing to do with the bike. You're more than a bit focused on work and finding work and other stuff, and so the balance has tipped -- but of course it's always most evident with the bike. This too shall pass, and you don't want to give up only to find out that you missed out!!" So true really as I always seem to be taking on more stuff to do and even though I was determined things would be different this year it's not. I think I've actually taken on more this year than any other.
All such good advice and words of wisdom and much appreciated. The funny part being that tonight I finally loved riding again. I actually had the best ride of my season so far. I think it just happens when you give up on looking for it.
Let me tell you about it. Monday is the CVC casual ride. With the threat of rain there was talk of cancelling but when I got home I just got ready and headed out as I didn't want to let anyone down by not going. I had to hustle as I was running late and the ride started outside of town. I got there and everyone was just getting out of their cars giving thought to whether it was really a good idea to ride.
Upon my arrival people were just getting ready to ride as the rain had stopped. WIth a team meeting at 7pm so what else would we do for the next hour besides ride anyway. It was misting a little but generally okay until about 45 minutes into the ride. Then it starts to rain fairly hard--you know the kind of rain when your shoes start to fill up with water and you're basically soaked. Suddenly it all seemed like so much fun. I was soaked, it was a little chilly and I was happy as could be. All the downhills and uphills just flowed and I felt like I could just keep riding forever.
So we head back to the meeting spot and head over to Barriques (a wine and sandwich shop) for our team meeting. Everyone but me drove and had a change of clothes. I dripped water all over the rather upscale establishment which was quite amusing really (not as amusing as my bike locking incident but I'll save that for a later blog post).
So anyway, I settled in with a nice hot Chai and did my best to preside over the meeting. Then it was time to head home and it was dark and raining steady and I was pretty wet still. A sensible person would have talked someone into a ride but I didn't really want to get anyone's car muddy and wet. Besides riding sounded like so much fun. So I'm heading back into town and it's raining and I'm soaking wet and none too warm and it is dark and there is crap all over the road and I can't stop smiling. Good thing it was dark or people would have thought (known?) I was a lunatic.
And when I came dripping into the house, totally soaked and covered in road grime I told Dave that I was meant to be a cross racer.
posted by MadCross at 10:05 PM
2 Comments:
...or a Belgian.
Sometimes riding is beautiful, sometimes it hurts, sometimes it's empowering and sometimes debilitating. And sometimes it's absurd. I like the absurd rides most I think.
I came across this interview with Kayne West, after he won his Grammy in 2005, talking about his near-fatal auto accident in 2002:
"When I had my accident, I found out at that moment, nothing in life is promised except death. If you have this opportunity to play the game of life, you need to appreciate every moment. A lot of people don't appreciate their moment until it's passed."
Glad to hear you found one of those moments!!!!
Post a Comment
<< Home