Timing Perfected

Some people go as far as to call me a brave girl. I don’t really know if I can claim that, but I will say this about myself: I recognize my limits, make a plan, and act on it. Today was a great example.

My friends and acquaintances know that I am chronically late. It’s pretty bad. If I say I am going to meet someone somewhere, I usually show up ten or 15 minutes late. It’s pretty bad. I even show up to class late. This bad habit has been acquired over the last couple of years. I used to always be early, even to parties, and found that I didn’t like being by myself twiddling my thumbs while waiting for others to arrive. When it came to social events, I practiced being late, even though I wasn’t very good at it. I would usually still end up in the designated place at the designated time.

Maybe life has just gotten more demanding, or I have gotten a little overwhelmed, but I now require a lot of time to get ready and I usually end up being late. Today, I chose to recognize this little problem. I decided to get my cycling clothes in order, pack my cycling bag, and make lunch. THEN I allowed myself to sit for a spell. Usually, I sit for a spell and my lateness is the result of not being prepared.

The reason why packing my backpack was so necessary is because today is the first day I commuted to school by bike in 2009. It felt good…reeeaaaal goooood. I even had time to stop at The Bike Shop to have Steve tighten my bottom bracket for me. I made it to Tech with enough time to change and grab some snacks for energizing for the ride home.

After class, I rode back to The Bike Shop to meet up with the Red Jacket weekly ride. A lot of people showed up; not just a lot of people, but a lot of fast people. These are people who win races. All but one were guys. This is the part where most people say, “Um, I’m in over my head and am not going to do this.”

I recognized, even before I showed up to the ride, that I wasn’t going to be able to keep up with the riders. Our (my team) weekly rides are all-out drop rides. That’s why I generally don’t go. I decided to start the ride out with them, however. I think this is the part that makes me brave. I managed to kind of ride with the pack across the Portage Life Bridge to the Hancock side, draft for about a minute, then lost the pack.

I continued the scenic, longer route home along the Portage Canal. It was absolutely beautiful! The water and trees were reflecting light from the setting sun, behind me. The wind was mellow and the temperature moderate.

Even though my surroundings were quite stimulating, it was time to get down to business. I turned up Waasa Road – I say “up Waasa” because it is a very steep, respectable hill that hurts so badly that “uncle” is usually just around the corner. Today, I couldn’t make it all the way. My ten pounds of winter weight coupled with my ten-pound backpack made it too difficult to meet that task, even with everything I had [in me]. I got off the bike and found that walking up the hill hurt just as badly as trying to ride. I got to the top, got on the bike, and began the upward slog home. I had several more miles of gradual up before I hit my road. It was slow and painful.

After my ride, I changed into some normal clothes and headed back to The Bike Shop for pizza and beer. Today is their first anniversary. My successful plan was the perfect way to celebrate it, and I was on time for everything but this social event. Perfect!