Gratitude
There’s an early morning group ride that I and a few other cyclists are doing. Supposedly, every Tuesday at 7 a.m., but life is life. Sometimes, it’s family obligations, sometimes work, and sometimes, you do such a great job destroying your body over the weekend that you can’t even get out of bed. That was certainly the case for me today. The weekend itself wasn’t that hard (even though Trestle is never particularly easy on the body), but accumulated fatigue definitely was close to its peak. I hated every second of my life from 6:00 when the alarm went off until 6:44 when I shut the garage door and, one revolution at a time, was on my way to the start of the ride. The only thing my brain was productive with was making all kinds of excuses, including those that were straight-up lies (like I slept through). Legs weren’t bringing any motivation or confidence to the table, either.
“How’s it going?” a friend asked me.
“It’s 7 o'clock, don’t ask.” as grim as it sounds was my half-sincere, half-joking response. With a smile, of course. Only good vibes!
The first climb of the day went pretty well. I didn’t want to jump ahead of the train, but I was not going to let Aaron open a gap on me either. It’s just a fun group ride; no one’s racing here. But I needed that little boost to my confidence. And suddenly I felt fantastic! I kept pushing into every single climb for the rest of the ride. Couldn’t help myself. I was huffing and puffing but smiling at the same time (thankfully, there’s no video evidence of my grimaces that I consider to be smiles). Then falling back for a little chat. Then rinse and repeat.
Now, to the point of this write-up.
I’m so grateful to the folks I’m honored to ride with, especially today. Whatever I say will be an understatement. I felt pumped. I felt positive. I felt simply happy when I got back home. Happiness is such a simple word, but if you think about it — true happiness doesn’t hit you as often as it seems. It’s a moment to cherish. And to be grateful for. I want to thank the people I was riding with today. None of that would’ve happened without them. I would’ve bailed in the blink of an eye (I guess I wouldn’t even open one in the first place, let alone blink).
This ride made my day today. I hope that putting this experience into words will remind my future self: Get out there, you got this, and it’s worth it!