"You only ride Sunday?"
Pollo asked me this after I rushed into Velo on Sunday afternoon, a couple of hours after he saw me on the GW Bridge. I shook my head no, and tried to explain that I just didn't have a road bike, which is why I'm shuttling between Boston and New York, working two jobs, six days a week. Seven if you counted the hour I went into Velo, after a call that they were swamped with people and could use my help.
By the time I got there, the shop was quiet, but after organizing receipts, hauling a rental up the stairs from the basement and trying to figure out how to ask Pollo in what world he thinks I would be capable of riding to Nyack [that's a 80 mile trip] on a track bike ["Only track bike? Track bike okay on 9W. Okay for Nyack," he informed me], I realized that these past couple of weeks, Pollo is right. I do only ride one day a week.
Which explains why it's been so quiet around here. The 9-5 internship three days a week lets me squeeze in a little bit of roller time after work if I don't stop by to hang out anywhere. The 11-8 bike shop gig lets me spend more time with bikes, learn how shops work, and doesn't chain me to a desk all day, but since I don't tend to get into the city until 11pm the previous night, riding's out until I have a day off. Still, while lots of bikes are around, the pressing need for a "real" job, plus - ironically - the desire for a road bike, has me deferring saddle time for work and cover letters.
I want to change that. In fact, I need to change that.
Because no matter how much of a pain in the ass it seems to get on a bike after too much time in an office, and no matter how uncomfortable it is to sweat buckets on the rollers instead of riding out in the sunshine, nothing really compares to spinning my legs around [on a real bicycle, of course]. It’s actually the perfect antidote to a stressful day: spinning enough to get disgustingly sweaty and then taking a relaxingly scorching shower can make an otherwise shitty day sort of alright. Of course, when I’m trying to cope with a shitty day, I’m more likely to be having a meltdown that tells me that I seriously have no time to be riding a bicycle. And then I don’t. And then I feel even more guilty.
So I’m putting my foot down [to myself]. I’m committing to riding more, even if it’s indoors, and getting those projects that have been floating around in my head, done. I’ll be writing more, too, because like bicycles, this makes me happy and keeps me sane.
And if I don’t do all of the above, I’m holding you all to hunt me down and kick my ass for not doing it. Or at least taunt me for staying slow.
Deal?