Been a LONG time since I posted on the blog. No real excuses or apologies, they’re superfluous.
A kind of inertia has set in, wherein I think “well, I haven’t posted in so long, so it doesn’t really hurt to let another day go by without posting anything.” This is counterproductive, though, so the only way to escape it is, well, to just escape it. So, here I am.
In a really quick bullet-point fashion nutshell:
- My streak of consecutive riding days ended. It was an ambitious idea but I must be true to myself. My plan is to ride as often, as much, as far as I possibly can this spring, summer, fall (see below), but every day is asking a lot.
- I AM still enthusiastic about cycling – in fact, more so now than any time in I’d guess 6 months. I’ve experienced the complete, unalloyed, 100% return to my old passion & enthusiasm for it. Difficult to fully capture in words, but basically I just look at it differently now as opposed to the “drudgery” / “obligation” that I was feeling about getting on the bike starting around late September and extending, REALLY, until quite recently.
- I have many, many updates on various topics that I’m going to make to the blog. Again I keep this blog for a few different reasons, and all of those reasons “support” or “imply” a need to keep it updated. So, I’ll resume with a flurry of activity on the blog over the next week or two, and then will do my best to keep it current and keep updates coming.
- Weight & fitness. Ah, weight & fitness. Ok Bill P, bullet-point fashion. Basically, I regained some 25 lbs from my overall 100-lb weight loss. But, as with before (the tag line of my blog) “my bicycle saved my life”. Suddenly remembering, as though I’d literally forgotten for months, that the bike is excellent exercise, a great fat burner, and just all around great fun, I returned to the joy that I once had in riding often, and accordingly I’ve now lost back around maybe 13-15 of that gained 25 lbs. So I’m currently about 13, 14 lbs above my best weight. I’ll be there by early May 🙂 And I’ll go well beyond. The long term goal is still 168 pounds, and anything after that is pure gravy.
- Randonneuring. I still do want to return to randonneuring; however, I find myself being curiously casual about when it occurs. I’m in a really good “place” right now mentally with regard to the bike and to fitness. I think that part of my “estrangement” from the bike was this maniacal fixation on randoing to the exclusion of ALL other bike-related pursuits/interests, and this came back to bite me hard. My friend & rando mentor Ron A saw this coming and tried to warn me, but I thought I knew better. Like Obi-Wan, I was wrong. So, all of this to say that I still hold randoing in very high esteem, I still LOVE to hear the accomplishments of Ron A and to speak to my friend, “Red Leader”, about his rando adventures, and to read his blog; and I DO have interest to return, but I’m mellowly accepting of the possibility that I may be ready for that in 2 weeks or it may be 2 months. When it happens it’ll happen, and I will enjoy it then; but for now, I’m in a great place, and that’s the entire point.
- Unfinished posts. I STILL have yet to post my pictures/videos from my October 2013 Katy Trail ride with my friend Mr. V; ditto RAGBRAI 2013 – some 8 months ago!! Even though it’ll be super belated, I intend to complete both of these and share them. Again, the blog is here for multiple reasons, and completing/sharing this material, even so long after the fact, is in keeping with basically all of those.
As mentioned above, I have several *specific* cycling-related plans for this year, and next; but, as a generalization, the plan is to ride the bike as often, as much, as far as I can this spring, summer and fall; again, in keeping within the overall goal of just enjoying it. Allowing it to become a mandated thing is the surest way to kill passion. If on a given day I want to ride only 2 miles, I should ride 2 miles. If I want to ride 9 miles a day for 8 days in a row, that’s what I’ll do. But in general, the plan is to ride as much as I can.
And I’m thrilled to have finally rediscovered the same level of joy – maybe higher, now that it’s tempered with some character (a-la the movie The Hustler) and some disappointment – that I experienced with the bicycle in 2013.
yeahthisistheone
So uh, yeah…I’m still around
April 1, 2014
Been a LONG time since I posted on the blog. No real excuses or apologies, they’re superfluous.
A kind of inertia has set in, wherein I think “well, I haven’t posted in so long, so it doesn’t really hurt to let another day go by without posting anything.” This is counterproductive, though, so the only way to escape it is, well, to just escape it. So, here I am.
In a really quick bullet-point fashion nutshell:
As mentioned above, I have several *specific* cycling-related plans for this year, and next; but, as a generalization, the plan is to ride the bike as often, as much, as far as I can this spring, summer and fall; again, in keeping within the overall goal of just enjoying it. Allowing it to become a mandated thing is the surest way to kill passion. If on a given day I want to ride only 2 miles, I should ride 2 miles. If I want to ride 9 miles a day for 8 days in a row, that’s what I’ll do. But in general, the plan is to ride as much as I can.
And I’m thrilled to have finally rediscovered the same level of joy – maybe higher, now that it’s tempered with some character (a-la the movie The Hustler) and some disappointment – that I experienced with the bicycle in 2013.