The conversation went something like this: “You’re obsessed.” “No, just dedicated.” “Obsessed.” “Persistent.” Ob. Sessed.” “Committed, and perhaps a bit competitive.” “Uh huh…obsessed.” 4000 kilometers came and went on Saturday but not without the earlier blessings (and pointing-out-the-obvious) of Tracey to start hammering out consistent 80km days. A late-September rally saw a sudden surge in weekly mileage, my first metriccentury, those 80km commutes and suddenly we were there - four thousand…and two kilometers (actually, 4032 if we ignore the pointless April 10th starting date). Calgary to Vancouver to Calgary to Vancouver to Banff – give or take.
Top of 14th Street, 120 meters from the 4000km mark.
In the three and a half weeks I’ve owned the Red Rocket, I’ve put more than half as many miles on it as I rode in all of 2011. I’ve waxed (un)poetic about it in almost every post since I acquired it and I’m still giddy every time we head out. I feel guilty that the Rescue Bike – the bike that lived with me as I re-learned how to ride and to love riding now sits forlornly, gathering dust. It’s been bumped from its prime perch and relegated to “resting up against other stuff” status as the newcomer usurps its role.
All may not be lost though. This past weekend brought the First Arrival of winter which, as we know, may or may not be the Arrival of Permanent Snow. With the new weather conditions – blowing snow, treacherously icy paths and roads, not to mention suicidal slippery hills, it’s apparent that I’m grossly un-prepared to continue riding in present conditions. This presents a problem – I need “stuff” - but with a handy solution – I have an excuse to buy new “stuff”. I have, I think, enough clothing to get through the early stages of winter so I’m not worried about that, but I do need some traction, badly.
Studded winter bicycle tires exist but they’re expensive. $100 – give or take a few dollars – each. Now, if I was certain which bike I was going to ride all winter, or if the Rescue Bike and the Red Rocket had similar tire sizes, then it would be a simple matter of deciding on the tire and picking them up. This is, predictably, not the case – they wear drastically different wheels and tires. I need make a choice about where my butt is going to spend the slippery months and live with it. I want to ride the Red Rocket, but I’m not sure I want to put its drivetrain through that sort of winter abuse. The studded tires will necessarily be heavier which means more work so for that reason alone I’d rather put them on the lighter bike, but then, there’s an advantage to riding a heavier bike all winter – come summer the light bike with the light tires will be like…well, a rocket. Having been sliding down the path on its side already, I’d be less concerned with taking a spill on the Rescue bike as well. Decisions…
What’s so dangerous about October? Food, snow and food. In one brief period you have Thanksgiving, Halloween and at least in my case, a serious interruption in the daily physical activity routine. I’ve been on a mild food bender since Saturday – frozen yogurt, chips, fast food burgers and fries, cheese-filled, jam-topped artery-clogging devices masquerading as breakfast…and supper. I suspect my recent dip into the 195 pound region is going to be short-lived. It’s as if an entire summer’s worth of cycling-driven weight loss now hangs by a tenuous thread of mindfulness and willpower.
I watched a short YouTube video on the effect of your inner voice and the impact of positive and negative thoughts. It reflects a lot of the concepts put forward in the area of neuroplasticity only in a more go-get-’em-tiger fashion. In essence, the thoughts and stimulus you fill your brain with each day determine the physical structure of your brain (yes, really – why should it react differently than the physical body?) and your unconscious focus.
If you’ve ever taken a driving course, in particular a motorcycle course where you’re taught to weave through a tightly spaced pylon course, you’ll recall it being drilled into your head – don’t look where you’re going, look where you want to go. This explains how people run into the only object for a hundred miles in any direction – because that’s what they were looking at. I had an incident during my final 50km ride that drove this home hard. I was tired, day-dreaming and not paying much attention. In my own head-space, I was riding fast and staring straight ahead. I was aware of what I was looking at, but it took a few moments before the grey matter worked out the upcoming events. I was staring straight into the weir, at the back of the giant sluice gates used to control flow from the Bow into the canal. Before I realized what was happening, I was heading straight for the edge of the works and into the freezing water at full speed. A moment of panic as the scenario played out in the mind’s eye before my reflexes finally spun up, applied the brakes and altered our trajectory back onto safer territory.
Your brain operates that way – whatever you’re focused on, that’s what it works on – good or bad. If you believe that the universe or the global consciousness or quantum physics or traditional deities or what have you listens and responds to the things you’re focusing on and brings those to you as you’ve requested, being aware of your focus and your internal dialogue is key! Are you focused on where you’re going or where you want to go?