So let me ask, what is the point of this? Everyday I get on my bike and turn the pedals 10 thousand times. I spend 12-15 hours a week, and countless $$, and for what? Well, let’s assess the three reasons I can think of.
For my health. I am told that if exercise “at least three 20-minute bouts of continuous aerobic [bla, bla, bla],” then I will be healthy and stave off the imfamous killer heart attack. When I ride I do way more than that, so I should be SUPER-healthy. Unfortunately, I ride in traffic! But for my helmet, I should be dead. Twice.
Is cycling in traffic healthier than a heart attack? Hard to say. I know many more cyclists that have died cycling, than people that have died of heart attacks. Shoot, I even heard of a two occasions where guys died of heart attacks while cycling! I say it’s healthier sitting on the couch eating two bags of Orville Reden-butter’s, than getting run over.
So I can race. That’s it. Nothing gets me going like waking up at 4 in the morning, driving two hours, sitting on the nastiest port-o-pottie on the freaking planet, and then paying some guy $30 so I can go get the crap beat outta me for the next three hours! OK, so maybe racing ain’t the reason.
Because it is what I do. When I dream, it is usually about riding. When I have nightmares, it is usually about riding. When I wake up in the morning, two things come to my mind: coffee and riding. Ok, first it’s, “I gotta pee,” then it’s the others. After ten years of riding nearly every day, I think it just a habit of mine. I guess I don’t like change, I just don’t know any better, or the endorphins cloud my mind enough that for two hours I get to forget all my problems and just focus in on how good I feel.
