"....you ride a bike too much...."

It is a little before 6:00 p.m on Jan 15th 2012. I have been riding my FatBack bicycle for almost 8 hours now on a mixture of snow, dirt, grass, and gravel, across farm fields. gravel roads, and trails. It is dark out, and I'm following a blinking red light of another cyclist that is ahead of me. That rear blinkie light has been playing hide and seek with me around every bend as I and that other unnamed bicyclist weave our way over Heritage Trail headed to the finish of the Triple D winter bicycle race. My legs are cooked. I did my best to hold my ground all day, and my body was reduced to only one desire at that time, and that was to get off this bike. My soul was weary too, and wanted off the bike also. But my soul, my inner self wanted two things more then to stop pedaling. The first one was to pass that bicyclist in front of me, and 2nd, was to arrive at the Grand Harbor hotel and call Triple D completed, for the first time in 3 attempts. This battle between body and soul had been going on for an hour now. Such a paradox, for the last month I couldn’t wait to get on the bike and get this show started, and now I want off the bike, I want this ride finished. I remembered thinking as I hammered on the pedals closing in on the finish line, and at about 5 miles out, I made the decision even if this bike blows up on me I will drag this Fat Cycle to the finish. I had to. I can’t fail, I need to finish.

At around 6:50 p.m. after over 8 and half hours of snow cycling 2 of those 3 desires were accomplished. I was off the bike, and I had finished Triple D. Arriving at the Grand Harbor Hotel, and that blinking red light, whoever that was, finished in front of me.


That was more than 4 weeks ago; I have not been back out there on a bike since then. My spirit, soul, and body want to feel that ‘ride’ again. The surgical scars and the pain in my shoulder reminds me of what my doctor told me, “stay off the bike, do not reinjure that shoulder” He also did 2 of the 4 knee surgeries I’ve had and told me once, “you ride a bike too much” I think to myself, if you don’t know, I can’t tell you why I do this. Thinking about it, I guess I don’t know either.

So to keep my bicycle legs up, or I believe I do, by riding 1.5 hours every day on an indoor stationary bicycle trainer. That is a very long 1.5 hours. I watch my heart rate monitor, I watch my pedal cadence, I watch total calorie burn, and I plan. Plan I do, goals I want to accomplish on the bike, places I want to go on the bike, while I wait for my 1.5 hours to be completed and I can get off this bike.

Someday this will all be just a memory, and someday even the memory will be gone. But that doesn’t matter, I am like a junkie, I just want that feeling right now. That same feeling I had past the 8th hour of Triple D, when I finished and got off my bike.

Thanks for stopping in.
Dave