Santaria

I noticed today on my short commute in that I started to do something odd. Instead of worrying about what that car was going to do, or where I was in the lane; did I pack everything; am I cross-gearing; watch that puddle; why did it have to rain; should I buy that FSR, the HT or the Fargo (longstanding debate in my personal little world); where do I have to be............................[infinite list of bull**** we all spend a lot of time worrying about].........................

I rode through puddles, tore up onto the levee and slid through the mud; chased a border patrol 4x4 and made him spill his coffee; never sat in the saddle nor wasted time worrying about what gear I was in; rode on the roughest sidewalk I could find in route to work and ended it all with a nice cup of coffee while my body steamed off sweat.

I knew I had warm, dry clothing in my waterproof backpack. Everything else was going to happen in the day regardless of my worrying about it.

The only thing I had to worry about was brushing my teeth to get the mud out and relax at work knowing I just had a 3 mile blast.

tl;dr -
Relearn to have fun.

recumbenttoad

I always enjoyed the ride home a lot more than the ride in. One of the best times I had was playing a joke on a cycling buddy many years ago. My commute was 14 miles one way and I generally always enjoyed the ride home because the terrain was very diverse and I got to ride by a local lake where eagles tended to frequent looking for dinner, but one day was particularly fun.

My cycling buddy and I worked at the same place and he always let me change clothes first and get on my way before he would change and leave. He would always catch me by at least the halfway point. He was a much faster rider than I was and he was riding a really light Cannondale road bike compared to my, then commuter, Trek 930 with bags rack fenders, etc., which probably weighed 35 pounds. I outweighed him by a lot, so, it was just a given that he would catch me.

One day, however, I got to the top of a really large hill and turned around to see if he was behind me yet. He was at the bottom of the hill and not paying attention to where I was. I turned off and hid behind a bush and waited a few minutes for him to get to the top and pass me. I made sure that he was a ways ahead before I started out again. The next day at work he asked me where I had gone to since he never caught up with me. I told him I took the normal route home and that I guess I had just had a really good day or he had had a really bad one. He wasn't just disappointed that he didn't catch me (or so he thought), he was angry at himself for being so slow. I think it was a year before I told him the truth. I had a lot of laughs over that year.

nashcommguy

Nice. New spin on the old Tortise and Hare story.

enigmaT120

Maybe I'll chase the next racoon I see. I have to say that riding always in the dark (fog/rain just make it worse) is a drag for me, as I've always been a scenery junky especially when running. Tuesday I'll be working in Salem and will probably get off work in time to catch an early bus out of town, and ride home in the day time on a longer, different route than normal. My wife expects to be seeing a friend in Salem Tue. and offered to pick me up and give me a ride home. My first response was along the lines of "Do I have to?" At this time of year, any scenery at all is a change of scenery.

DX-MAN

This time of year, with lots of temps in the teens and 20's, I don't enjoy my commute as much -- mainly because it's not frequently a good idea to stretch out the ride, like I do in the other three seasons.

This morning, the temps were around 13F, and a cold wind SSW (pretty much in my face, no surprise); I hadn't been on the bike for almost a week due to a back issue, and I knew the ride was gonna be tough -- it was one to get my body used to it again.

I almost enjoyed the misery this time!

In truth, it's a rare day that I DON'T enjoy, and find some fun in, my commute; hell, just PEDALING is cool enough!

Ray R

The main reason I ride to work is that I love to ride! Before I go to bed every night I prep my commuter and charge all the batteries. When I wake up in the middle of the night I'm already looking forward to the early morning commute. At work I'm looking forward to the ride home. If it wasn't so much fun, I might not continue to do it.