Tuesday, July 27, 2010

love it.


mr. miyagi always knew what to do with daniel when the kid had a problem: work.

it's amazing what a little sweat and focused effort can do to improve one's outlook. i was talking with a cousin of mine a few weeks ago, and going over our mutual dependence on two-wheeled exercise for sanity reasons, and he takes the cake on dedication. the guy doesn't race. he does a couple charity rides a year, mostly to hang out with the family members he goes with. but he is pretty quick-tempered, albeit highly self-controlled. knowing all of this, he brings his bike with him to work and then, upon finishing his work day at the office, goes for a ride.

he doesn't ride home.

he goes for a ride, and spins out the day, enjoying the wind or the sweat or the activity while skipping the inevitable torture and rage of a rush-hour commute. as he could be sitting in traffic, he instead sits into his cadence. he could be yelling at other motorists, but he's exhaling after a hard cardio effort.

this guy knows where it's at.

the only problem, then, is when the problem that needs to be fixed is the work itself. i know, i know, you're worried that i broke my frame again. no. it's fine. it's silent and quick and beautiful and works wonderfully. the problem is that i don't always love riding. and riding is what i do to fix all of my other problems. how can i fix something if i don't even want to ride?

it's a difficult thing, loving to ride long and far and up big hills, when located in downtown toronto. there are no hills here, and any road anywhere is full of traffic lights, streetcar tracks, absolutely crap pavement, and traffic lights. it's a great place to run, but it's a terrible place to be a cyclist. how do you ride out your frustrations when riding is frustrating?

like my sister would say: you signed up for it. why are you complaining? (lots of sympathy there.)

it's true. i love to ride. and if i really love to ride, i will love to ride, anywhere, any time, every time.