My Social Distance Bicycle Ride

Posted On December 9, 2020

or Indecision is the key to flexibility. Also see this post.

I hadn’t been riding for a week or so, of more or less constant rain, in sunny Southern California.

Susan and I are staying in place here as opposed to the Kansas City area, where we live (a whole story unto itself).

So, it was time for my social distance bicycle ride.

I knew a group ride was out.

I knew I did not want to be around a lot of people.

I would ride with one friend, but this was to be a solo ride.

While I do ride by myself from time to time, it has been awhile, so I forgot about the following:

Not necessarily.

My logical self wanted a short ride of 20-25 miles. My emotional self wanted to ride to Laguna Beach and back, but that was only about 12 miles. I could add an extension towards Newport, but that would be hillier than I wished to ride. This is important to remember. To avoid the hills necessary for a longer ride, I did not go to Laguna Beach.
Since I was riding alone I could ride at my own pace. This caused yet another issue. Logically, a relaxed, chill ride seemed like the right thing to do. Emotionally, it is rare that I am in a situation where I can push the pace without impacting other riders in the group. Eventually, my two sides reached a compromise on the pace. Neither completely happy or unhappy.
Rode down into a canyon on roads and trails. Coming back, however, there were a lot of cars parked by the trailhead, so I decided to take the road back. My logical self said, the slightly longer, less hillier route (as per my decision in step #1) made sense. As I approached the turn off for the hilly way, however, my emotional self said, “You can do this.” My logical self said “Why”. My emotional self replied “Because those hills are there.” Up we went over three very long climbs.
Anticipating a long “whee” down hill at the top of last hill, I was dismayed to see a bike lane in need of repair. Never broke 20 mph.

None of mattered in the end. Loved the ride.

Glenn