What a Difference a Day Makes or, Riding for Fun
What a difference, a day makes. Twenty-four little hours. Yesterday it was sunny and warm yet I had an off-day. I was missing the joy that comes from riding simply for the love of riding. After yesterday’s tough day, I was looking forward to this morning’s weekly mountain-bike ride. However, it was cancelled after a night of rain. I had my heart set on a fun ride, on getting dirty and maybe a little wet. To ride for pleasure. So ya, I was kinda bummed about the whole thing.
Then it struck me; what about that beautiful touring bike of mine, what about Irene? Of course! I took off the racks and fenders while dusting the cobwebs. I put some knobby tires on her and a bit of chain lube to be sure. Rick and Kt offered some suggestions for routes and off I went..for an adventure.
Usually when I am here in Prince Edward County, I’m on my road bike and I stick to certain roads. I avoid dirt roads or the many unmaintained seasonal gravel roads that service this lush agricultural land. Today, those were the routes I sought out.
Bumping across rocks and gravel, splashing trough road-wide brown puddles, flying along narrow lanes with the bows of trees completing a canopy, suddenly I was experiencing cycling in the County from a whole new perspective. I did not know exactly the route I was taking nor the conditions of each road I’d come across. The weather was also a concern, as it threatened rain for the whole 68kms. Instead of training for some event, I was simply riding for the pleasure of riding, for the freedom of adventure, for the moment.
I stopped to take pictures and a second look. I smiled a lot. I bought cheese at a small winery and chatted with a guy in his pick-up truck who was out doing the same thing as me; enjoying those empty, country roads. I had fun, it was beautiful, it was just what I needed to remind me why I ride.
