Back on the Pedals Again

Under the SE 6th bridge along the Des Moines River Trail.  The latest graffiti.  Fitting.

Took some time off the bike.  Damn near gave up.  Started innocently enough.  Woke up with a killer headache and decided to sleep an extra hour instead of riding in 20F weather with a NW 24 mph..  Or woke up and it's a cold wet snow.  Fuck it, sleep an extra hour.  Or gotta drive 90 miles after work best save an hour and drive to work.  Then it became the Sudafed/Claritin Blues.  My allergies/immune system went ballistic due to exposure to dust and mold (90 miles away) that I almost went through a box of Kleenex over the weekend.  Just take the pills, sleep in an extra hour and do not aggravate things by riding an hour and 6 minutes in 20F weather with a NW 24 mph headwind.  Rest and live.

Some people call it smack, junk, dope.  Automobiles are very addictive.  This one is too.

I blame the truck.  It's comfortable.  The heater is divine.  Stereo.  A place for my coffee.  Did I say it has a heater???  4WD.  Huge and I will live if some fucktard plows into me.  She's an easy lover.  Heroin.  Did I say that could sleep in an extra hour?  Arrive to work dressed for work?  Honestly, I really don't want to ride that 12 miles any more.

But I need to.  I don't care about the price of gas.  Still cheap.  Keep the rpms low.  Charles Lindbergh and Chuck Sweeney taught me that trick.  I will buy a beer for the first person who can tell me about the references I just made.  Think Pacific Ocean not Atlantic.

Farm Bureau finely put the bicycle rack out.  I have only bitched about it since February.  Time to put up or shut up.

It has been 9 days since I have been on a bike.  The last ride was to Blazing Saddles to meet former co-workers.  Trust me.  Better to ride a bike to a bar than to drive.  Cabs are better still.  So the remaining days I drove.  Weekends were shitty so I did not ride.  Even the television stopped me from riding.  I watched The Pacific dvd series from HBO when I could have been out there riding.  But last week I needed to be elsewhere and the bike would not cut it.  And this dust/mold exposure almost wiped me out.  I have going to bed as early as 730 pm.

The bridge on the Des Moines River Trail

So today I made the effort.  Put the bike with studded tires away for the season and grabbed a road bike.  My 2200.  Aired the tires.  Road to my bank and hit the ATM.  Road back south and purchased required items for dinner at B&B.  Then I hit the Des Moines River Trail.  8.1 miles.  Felt great.  Just like old time.  Nearly got hit by a Buick downtown but that is to be expected.  One thing I did while I drove was to be aware of what drivers do not see.  That bastard would never have pulled out in front of me if I was in my truck.  But bikes are stealthy.  Never forget that.