When it rains, it pours...
Usually I am over-extending myself for a lot of trivial reasons (like volunteering to foster a cat and her four kittens - I still have three kittens, send help!). Sometimes, life decides to throw something (in this case, MULTIPLE THINGSSSS) on top of the mess that I’ve already made for myself. These latest life events have involved lots of trips back and forth between Brooklyn and the hospital in Manhattan, anxiety, sleepless nights, stress, lots of crying, and a new level of exhaustion.
The Rapha’s Women’s 100 (click to read more about this event, which is in its tenth year!) is scheduled for September 18th. By this time last year, I had plenty of metric centuries under my belt from all of my summer riding. I obviously cannot say the same about this year!
After a long week and weekend of dealing with everything, Monday was the first day that I had a little downtime. Rain was predicted, it was the West Indian American Carnival in my neighborhood (so things were wild), and I wanted to stay in the area in case I needed to head back to the hospital. Time for the trainer!
I did some rearranging of furniture in my living room, threw the training wheel onto my road bike, and got set up for a day of riding. Inside.
My goal was 60 miles but I was just happy to be able to get a ride in and have a bit of a distraction for a while. I had beverages and snacks on hand for the ride:
And plenty of kittens to keep me company. Beatrice and Ralph were a little too curious and didn’t seem to have any fear of my pedal strokes. It was a close call for Ralph, who seemed to have a death wish on this day.
Did I ride 60 miles? No. But I did ride 50, and all things considered, that’s pretty good. I could have easily used everything going on as an excuse to not ride at all but I did ride, and I’m glad I did.
Gigi is the smart one - she knows when it’s safe to chill by the bike.
