Overzealous & invigorating can be used to best describe my day today. I also think any 4-letter word would do the trick as well… Let me rewind momentarily to appropriately set the mood.
About +-16 months ago, I purchased a mountain bike so that I could better enjoy the outdoors with my friends, and at the same time I would be doing some much needed exercise. Well suffice it to say, I am an addict and need help. Now some of you may be picturing me in a full body spandex suit, with welding goggles on, 5 water bottles hooked into 1, riding on one of those street-bikes whose tires are barely as wide as a pencil who hugs trees in his spare time. Wrong. So hardcore am I not. Jedi force feel I not too. I am just a simple guy with a simple mountain bike who enjoys the ride.
Well a few weeks ago, I somehow concocted the idea that riding my bike to and from work would be great for my health, easy on my pocket book and great for the environment (hah!). Well on April 30th, I made my way to the local bike shop and walked out with about ½ the merchandise in the entire store: Mud flaps, zippers, back-packs, odometers, bike-locks – pretty much anything and everything that I thought would help make my ride more enjoyable and worry free. The night before my big ride, I set out all of my gear on the table just like I used to do in Elementary school – where I would lay my tube socks out next to my L.A. Gear (the ones with lights), I would fold my Rüsty t-shirt neatly on top of my shoes and from my closet I would pick out whichever MC Hammer pants matched my shirt the best. A lot of preparation went into this mornings ride.
6:00 am came and I jumped out of bed, eager to hit the trails on my bike. I loaded everything into my truck and drove out to the spot I had already picked out weeks prior. To me this spot appeared to be the best location for me to safely park my truck and hit the trail from. I tuned my IPod to the Adam Carolla show and set off on my new adventure. As other bikers would wave to me, I would casually give them the head nod and continue on down the trail. Well about 20 minutes into my ride, it began to rain. I laughed at the idea of a little rain stopping me and pushed forward, switching gears to a more difficult level just because I could. After a few more head nods and finger pointing, I passed a trail-map. Even though I was certain that I was pretty close to my final destination, I turned around and looked at the map. I followed my finger from the “YOU ARE HERE” to the dot on the map that indicated that I was at mile-marker number 15. My smile quickly turned upside down and the rain started pouring down hard, just like the movies. I tried not to let myself believe the inevitable – In 40 minutes, I had only gone about 5 or 6 miles and I still had about 13 more to go, in the rain at that.
I wheeled my bike around with middle fingers in the air and began pedaling back to the direction from which I had come; my warm truck. Needless to say, I was no longer giving head nods or waving to walkers. Instead, I happily wished death upon them and did all I could to make it back to my truck as quick as possible.
By the time I had arrived to my truck I was completely soaked from the rain. I threw my bike and helmet into the back of my truck and slammed the gate shut. I wrung out my damp clothes and proceeded to drive practically naked to work with the heater on full blast. When I parked, I put what dry clothes I did have on and sat down at my desk wishing it was Friday already. Even as I type this, my socks are soaked, my entire body is shivering and I smell like a wet dog.