Not about the Equipment

It's not about the bike, the clothing, or the equipment. Last night's ride was much better than the ride in. This morning was okay too. So much about how things "feel" is perception-related. So much seems to go into perception that it can be difficult to diagnose what exactly is going on. That said, I must admit that I struggle with mood-swings… Sometimes to the extreme. I will not go so far as to say that riding every day is the cure, but seems to help me immensely.

“So, shut up and ride!” Right? Well, I do just keep riding, but I cannot stop thinking. I keep plugging along, making adjustments where I can in an attempt to improve the general life-experience.

I can see how people could get hung-up on the equipment side. On days when things might not otherwise be going that well, it is easy to concentrate on the variables that can be “purchased.” It’s not about the “stuff.”

This morning, I made it a point to actually stretch before riding. Being cold and exercising has seemed to tie my body up into one big knot. I remembered to take my vitamins (and will remember to take the second pack) tonight. It could be entirely psychological, but I feel better when I take my vitamin supplements daily. Since switching to a different brand, I do feel better. (Besides, I am not very good at eating... subsisting on oatmeal and PB&J sandwiches for 2 out of 3 meals a day.)

It was 8 degrees this morning. I was not comfortably dressed for this morning’s ride. I tried a new combination of clothing that did not work well. I am not second-guessing God’s design, but it would seem a much better way to regulate overall body temperature would be to send the warm blood off to cold areas of the body instead of sweating! My upper body was too warm and sweaty and my extremities were too cold. I tried regulating temperatures by monkeying with zippers, but there was the matter of the wind coming straight at me the whole way.

I arrived with icicles on my eyelashes and my balaclava was frozen to the zipper on my jacket. There was an accumulation of frost on the inside of my jacket, and my legs were cold. Loving the adventure though and I look forward to the ride home.