A Really Cool Thing About Cycling



This is the main reason I've was away from the blog last week.

First I just wanted to say that I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while. My family and I have bought a new (Well, new to us.) dwelling. And I've been working feverishly to get it dwellable. So the posts maybe spotty still for a little while. But I'll try to be a little more active on here. And thank you for your support....



I was pondering another cool thing about cycling this last weekend while I was painting yet another room in our new house. Are the wonderful people I never would have met were it not for cycling.

It's not that I'm some sort of social hermit that hides in my hermit hole never wanting to see the light of day. Okay, maybe that is true. But I know I never would have met some of the best people ever were it not for cycling. We just don't run in the same circles.

People like Johnny P, Martin, Dr. Mark, the Lewis's, the Francis boys, Kenny, JP, Mark H., Kathy, Beth, and Adam. The list really could go on and on (It really could).

And then of course there are the two most important people I met through the cycling. My lovely wife and my father-in-law. Those two people were truly life changing. I'm not sure where I would be without having gotten to know them.

But then there is still more more people like J. Who hornswaggled my fat ass into going out with the group in the first place. This was back when I was fat, out of shape and in a really bad place emotionally in my life. He taught me how fun and motivating it can be to ride with the pack.None of that would have ever been possible without cycling.

Cycling had been the peanut butter in the sandwich of my life (Very Zen I know).

It lets me go out and be sociable during the ride. Maybe go have a beer and something to eat afterwards and talk about the ride or the subjects of the day. And it just makes me feel a little more grounded in the here and now. Which I always thought I was until I discovered how much I really wasn't. You know what I mean?

It also taught me the meaning of suffering. Not bad suffering (Although that definitely happens too.) But the  good kind. The kind that lets you know you are alive. That you can survive just about anything and come out of it a better person. And these wonderful people help me in doing that.

They give me a carrot to chase up the road. A reason to hop on the saddle on those days when it's pissing rain and I'd much rather stay at home eating chips and watching TV.

Accountability.

I am grateful for all that. I often say that there are maybe half a dozen rides a year that I would have been happier to stay at home. But 98% time I'm so glad I did. Not only to feel better physically. But emotionally as well.

So thanks guys.

A lot.



Rubber side down,

Big E