Post stress syndrome

It’s been a weird year so far. We have posted lower temps than usual around here, and the 9 or so inches that we got last month was the most accumulation we have seen here in a decade. The freezing temps have messed with my brain a bit. I haven’t been blogging, I haven’t enjoyed post ride drinks at Cogan’s since the rides kept getting cancelled, and I when I heard that Freedom Park closed after the storm, I started to think I would never ride again. We had to cancel our Superbowl mountain bike weekend, and I even got a charley horse style cramp one night after a maddening hour on an indoor trainer. I never get cramps even after several hours on the bike outside. Weird and kinda depressing.

I have to get something off my chest even as morbid as it may sound. I started thinking about what would happen if I could never ride again (e.g., injury), and I concluded that if it all folded tomorrow, I am happy with the years that the bike has given me. I may have even prayed a time or two in the past few weeks about how grateful I am for the lifetime of experiences, challenges and friendships I have gained from the bike. I am like so many others who have a passion for something, and I have passed that tipping point that one reaches (at middle age perhaps) when one can say, I’ve got something very important out of my system, and every day I get to continue enjoying my passion is a true gift because I have been given far more than I ever deserved.

I can think of nothing more profound to say other than I have never been so happy to see my cycling comrades as I was this weekend. Saturday, the Conte’s Laskin road ride resumed after the only 4 week hiatus the ride has ever had, and Sunday lots of us met at Freedom Park on Sunday for some great dirt miles.