...Just Ride

It's 90, clear, breezy, and humid. The weather's been right but for some reason I can't get motivated to go ride. I can always find an excuse: work, tasks for Beauty, something at church, mow the yard...now how bad is that? I'd rather mow the yard than go for a long bike ride.

When my old truck, affectionately referred to as "The Beast" by friends and family for years (a 1-ton extended cab 4x4 Ford with with the giant 460 V-8 and 190,000 mile on it) died about 3 years ago I didn't rush out to replace it for several reasons:

• Gas was already going up and I just couldn't handle 8 mpg anymore
• Have you seen the cost of new trucks?
• My days of needing something that could tow half the world were pretty much behind me
• Insurance
• Everyone and their 3rd cousin wanted to borrow it or, worse, for me to come help them move 'something'. Usually all their worldly possessions or something very heavy.
• I had been riding my bike to work for the better part of a year anyway (5 mile commute 1-way) so transportation wasn't an immediate problem
• Beauty still had her SUV (245,000 miles but in better shape than 'The Beast')

Just before this Beauty started working for the same guy as me but she worked from home (gotta' love the flexibility of web-based apps!) and I worked out of an office at a warehouse. I just rode the bike every day. It was wonderful...I would rack up at least 75 miles a week between work, working out and even riding to church. I was in the best shape of my life. I could take off and ride for 30 or 40 miles and not even think about it.

Then a series of things happened and I began to loose my motivation to ride, work out & eat healthy. Among those things: I bought a motorcycle in January of '05. In the barn at the pasture where Beauty keeps her horses the guy she rents from had an old 1978 Honda CB-750K with the full Vetter faring package and only 7,200 original miles. One day I casually said he should sell it to me and he took me up on it. I bought it for less than most good road bicycles go for now.

A little clean up and maintenance and she purrs like a kitten. I'm hooked. It's a blast to ride, can take me anywhere faster than I would ever want to get there and is slightly more economic than the old 'Beast'. It gets @40 mpg in town and only costs $120 PER YEAR for insurance!

Like I said in the beginning, now I have a hard time getting motivated to ride the bicycle & do what I know is good or me. I've gained back a good portion of the weight I lost. I eat wrong again and not much better on what I drink.

One thing I noticed when I rode all the time and worked out regular: your body won't let you get away with eating wrong near as much...you don't even desire the bad stuff. It's like the body says "Oh no you don't. We're going to stick with the good stuff." Kind of like Galatians 5:17 the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.

Boy, isn't that the truth. When I did what was right and good for me I desired to do that more than eat wrong and be lazy. When I got careless about my habits and let my motivation slip I was dragged away (pretty willingly) to the stuff I knew wasn't good for me. It's like a vicious circle with no end. Now even though I want to do what I should I find it hard to because my desires drag me back to where I am. I'm just going to have to suck it up, kick against the tide and get back in the saddle.