Day 300

Today is day 300 of the 2012 calendar year. That means I have 299 consecutive ride days so far this year as I have not gotten out for a ride yet today. Stuck at work as usual. Add in the final three days of 2011 and I'm up over 300 in a row.

This exercise is showing me a couple of things. For one, there are a whole lots of days in a calendar year. When taken with this level of granularity, literally on a day to day basis, a year is a pretty daunting thing. Now with that I can also say that it is amazing how quickly 300 days can slip by. The blink of an eye really. We really need to make sure that we take some time to recognize that fact and savor whatever treasure any given day brings you. There is good in each and every one, you just have to recognize it. Besides, as my friend Steve likes to say, having someone shooting at you really puts things into perspective and makes you appreciate things once the shooting stops. Again, it is all about perspective. Stop crying or I'll give you something to cry about.

Photo by Teri

Last night we did a big single-speed MTB night ride with food and drink following afterwards. I'd been trying to balance the training this year with some fun and socializing so got these events running again. We had a big turnout and a good group, mostly all on single-speed bikes. Thought there was some disparity in the group I tried to keep a nice steady pace so we didn't spread out too much. This was working well and we were moving along just fine for the first half hour or so. And then we got the first flat tire by Ben. Not exactly a record breaking change followed but eventually we were back on the trail and moving along.

About 15 minutes later we suffered our next flat. This time it was Michael and he struggled even more with the change. As we were waiting we bumped into Cathy and Teri who were doing their own, ladies only SS MTB ride and having a good time of it. Eventually the flat was fixed and we were back out on the trail riding. We made it all the way to the far end of the trail system and then heard the all too familiar sound of a rider calling out that they had a flat tire. This time it was John, who had sliced his sidewall and needed to boot it. That was possibly the slowest change ever. Our time allotment was drawing thing and once rolling, I made a bee-line back toward home.

On the way out, we somehow got separated. The first time we waited for the group to catch back up before proceeding out. In the final stretch we somehow fractured again and by that point I just wanted to get home. Assuming folks knew where they were (we were in Bedford, how hard could it be to get back) we proceeded. What I assumed to be the rest of the group pulled in right behind us so I assumed all was well, proceeded inside, changed up and started re-hydrating.

About 15 minutes later John and Steve showed up. Odd, I assumed they were already back. They had an interesting story to tell about being lost and more over, being accosted by some motorist who'd had an altercation with some other rider and decided to take it out on them. Apparently he wasn't violent and remained calm but insisted that they were part of some group containing a person who spit on his spiffy Ford Exploder when he passed them. It was really dark out last night and there are not many street lights so I'm amazed that he could recognize someone spitting on his vehicle as he passed. I'm also more amazed at his guilt by association verdict as well as his audacity. Made for a great story though and both Steve and John retained their composure, something I unfortunately am unable to do in those situations.


Back at home the conversations quickly changed as we settled in with copious amounts of food and beer that we had all amassed together. The toils of the ride quickly faded into obscurity and a haze of gluttony and socializing. Really, that is what it's all about anyhow, the Thursday night ride being an overall excuse to get together with friends in order to feast and fest.

The fact that we had issues was trivial as the post ride events went off flawlessly. Besides, despite the number of flats we had on the ride, nobody was shooting at us as we stopped to repair them. Thanks for the perspective Steve.