by 
Up early. Couldn’t sleep.
Went to bed early too. Real early. As in, when my kids went to bed.
Now some keep their kids up late. Around here, not so much. We aim for seven, usually succeed closer to eight. And, as always, eight is great.
When my mind is rolling over a million things and staring at the ceiling ain’t doing anyone any good, it’s time to head downstairs. Too much going on. Exciting, yes. But damn if I’m not on edge. One cup of coffee later I’m out in the garage looking at my bikes. I counted them yesterday. There are twenty six bicycles in my garage.
Not all are “mine”. My wife has five, as do my daughters. I can claim seventeen as my own.
Hello, my name is jonny & I have a problem…
I filled up a page of paper listing out all the things I need to address. So many things on my plate. Busy is good, I suppose. Better than being utterly unengaged in life, although that occasionally does seem attractive. Idle hands are the devil’s plaything and all that.
Riding a bike, in the dark, by myself, at 4 am on a Wednesday made more sense than anything else I could think of doing. So I rode. Figured out my short ride. I have mentioned, once or twice or four thousand times, that I occasionally take a bike “around the block.” Someone asked me recently, what does that mean, “around the block”? Well, I brought my new (to me) little Garmin gadget with me this morning. And now I can tell you that “around the block” means 3.1 miles.
The first trip ’round felt a little shitty. Toward the end, as I neared the driveway, I figured fuck it. Let’s go again. Second trip felt good. Really good.
Life is like that sometimes.
I’m super stressed lately. As are many of the other heads here at DC. Some have big events coming up, others life issues related to children or jobs or money or a combination of all of the above. It’ll chew you up if you let it.
by 
# of bike one should own = N + 1. Stop thinking and start riding, I should follow that advuce. Is that your legal opinion? You being a real lawyer type and all.
i recently read “daytripper” a graphic novel that reminds us that the phrase “rest in peace” refers to the fact that life gets crazier every fucking day.
yes.
at one point did your bikes begin to reproduce and make new bikes appear all on their own? 7? 14? There’s no way you deliberately bought all those bikes, right?
…same boat…sometimes this ‘life’ shit ain’t easy…
…taking a deep breath, getting on the ‘townie’, see if i can squeeze maybe 15 miles in…
…need more deep breathes…
My round the block ride is 2.4 miles. It’s a profound 20 minutes of soft pedaling. just to see the ground roll by soothes my soul. It erases the days stress. Often, I follow it with a beer chaser and I thank myself for making the opportunity happen. I’m happy to have it, or I’m happy to know that I have it. whatever. Thanks for putting the moments usefulness into words.
Amen to Johnny and the Gnome! Sometimes those “around the block” rides are just what’s needed to cleanse the grimy veneer of life from your mind’s eye.
Life should never have problems that can’t fixed with a quick ride. My wife asks me why i HAVE to ride so much. I tell her it’s cheaper than counseling and better for my family than heroin…
Now this guy has problems…you can’t ride away from being stupid.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/vansevenants-doping-products-were-only-amino-acids
…now THAT is a dichotomy…he bought a product to ‘dope’ with, got busted for doping with what turns out not to be dope even though it’s labeled as such & so while his lawyer can disingenuously claim – “see…my client didn’t dope…”, nobody in pro cycling is ever gonna trust this guy again…
…he’s likely out money considering what he actually bought & if he tries to sue the company he bought it from, he can prob’ly get busted again for ‘intent’…
…fit for a clown suit…
bike rides cleanse the soul, doesn’t matter if you ride 3 miles or 300 miles. nice choice of words.
@Holden
Amen, man. People ask why I fill my Sundays with several hours of riding into the next county, state, etc. I tell them it’s therapy. Take out the week’s accumulated frustration, angst, stress – all the maddening trappings of life – and put some f*cking rubber to the road. Big ring, on the drops, catch a tailwind. Those weird hours of the early morning, before the day starts pouring through the cracks of dawn make it even more satisfying.
Awesome post.
Jonny brings the word yet again. Wise men nod knowingly.
Possibly the #1 reason I married the spousal unit was that she lets me ski 60+ and ride 100+ days every year— she knows it makes me easier to be around when I am around. Guys whose wives won’t let them ride suffer a special hell on earth… and we ALL know guys like that. Poor fuckers. You only get once chance, don’t fuck it up!!
I can seriously relate to the wisdom in this post. Just started a job that really sucks donkey balls. Don’t own a vehicle, so gotta borrow a vehicle & the 4:45a.m. commute to get said vehicle is the high point of the day prior to slaving away 12 hours w/ brain off and brawn grunting away behind a grinder. Even w/ traffic and being beat ass tired, the slow ride home is stress buster galore. Well stated as to the joy that comes with just rolling along.
Started back to work acouple weeks ago after months off, partly due to an injury in December. Commercial electrical, as in digging trenches, laying conduit and backfilling. Was actually too tired to ride. That sucked. This week should be better. My little five mile town loop-It’s a lifesaver.