Day 256: Feeling Worn out and Wearing out Parts

Whereas yesterday I felt like my cold was moving through my body quickly, today I felt like I was hit by a train. I’m really bummed out that I’m sick again. I was becoming so positive about heading out of winter, and the days that I’d already ridden while being sick, and also with broken ribs.

So here I am again, trying to work through yet another unexpected hurdle. It’s all fine, and I accept the fact that I signed up for this commitment, so there's no NO WHINING going on here, but instead I'm simply realigning my thinking.

My buddy “B” helped me out the door and onto my bike today. Riding alone today would have been ugly, even with the great break in the weather that we had after this morning's rains. With how sick I was feeling today, I was reminded about just how fragile my whole journey is, and that I need to be really careful if I’m going to make it to the end. I’m feeling pretty darn low at the moment, and just after reaching the two-thirds of the way marker in Riding to Recovery.

"B" and I rode at a medium pace up to the West Point Inn today. We stopped a few times along the way in order to take some snapshots, and for me to rest. I rode today in full winter gear even though the temperatures were mild. I wanted to stay warm while being sick. We rode down the mountain at speed today since there were very few people out on the mountain today, and that was a surprise given just how nice the weather was this afternoon.

On an unrelated topic, I’ve been wearing out bicycle parts at an amazing pace during this winter. I’ve blown through chains, tires, and drivetrains like they’re disposable, and now things like the cleats that are attached to my cycling shoes are even wearing out. I’m feeling pretty worn out too, but I can’t go buy another one of me, can I? ;-) I’m keeping a log of all of the parts that I’ve worn out and it should prove to be fun for me to review four months from now.

One of my mountain bikes has been at Tam Bikes for over a week, my other mountain bike basically has no brakes, and my road bike is ready to fall apart and is in need of some serious maintenance. It’s amazing to me to be wearing through parts and bikes like this. In a way I feel badly about doing so, but I have no choice.

People have been so kind to me during R2R. It’s really inspiring and reassuring that there is still community in America. I strongly believe that community is the only way that we will prevail as a strong culture in the end. We need to come full-circle as a people, so that can support one another. That’s where we started, and I believe that’s where we need to head. That's my very humble two-cents, for what it’s worth.