Shoes, Ships, and Sealing Wax

What is it I like about biking?

I did end up registering for that Century, and every weekend since I registered I've spent the days thinking "I really need to start training for that stupid ride." And several times, while feeling guilty about not riding, I've thought "What is it I like about this?"

I'm whiney, I admit it. There are 363 days a year when the weather is too hot, too cold, too windy, too wet, too bright, or otherwise imperfect for riding, in my estimation. (On those other days I'm likely to find problems with the terrain or the mechanics of my bike.) I'm thinking that this really is not my sport.

So today I actually did ride.

Now, I know what you are thinking...you are thinking that I'm going to list all the great things I got out of being on the bike today, and how I'm filled with a renewed love of cycling and how I can't wait to do 100 miles.

Fuck that.

I used the word fuck so many times today it sounded like I was auditioning for a role in Scarface. Because when you are riding into a 20-mile-an-hour wind, that's the only word that comes to mind. Likewise, it works when being passed by a 120-year-old guy on his velociped or when running out of gears on a hill that sends your heartrate 10 bpm beyond your supposed "max." It also expresses the horror at the conditions of trailside porta-johns.

I could say that biking has one thing going for it: like hitting yourself in the head with a brick, it feels good when you stop. But that's not true. If anything, my knee feels worse.

The only silver lining is that, if I can believe my heart rate monitor, I burned 1094 calories. That's 13 glasses of red wine, which is about what it will take to erase my memory of how much I hated riding so that I do it again next week.

Posted by Nic at June 11, 2006 04:09 PM | TrackBack