I’m going out for a road ride on my mountain bike; yeah, I know it’s strange, but I have to ride on the road to get from point A to point B, but will be riding some trails in between. I’m working on my fitness today. It’s a challenge, because it “hurts” (not in a painful way, but it takes a lot of physical exertion and effort), but if it doesn’t “hurt” you don’t get fitness back…still with me? I don’t necessarily enjoy riding when I’m not fit….I’m sure most people don’t, and I really haven’t lost a lot of fitness since I’ve been recovering, but I think it’s a mental thing more than anything. Because of the leg work I’ve been doing…it turns out to be over 100 squats a day/4x a week, my legs are strong…I have been gifted with strong legs…but it doesn’t translate to fitness necessarily, and I have been avoiding riding as much as I can because I’m not as fit as I usually am (and 20 pounds heavier)…it’s such a dilemma. Like I said, mental…yes, I know I’m mental…but this riding thing is all mental. If I didn’t ride, I’d be mental…but I’m being mental for not riding, so I’m still mental….I can’t win here.
I went for a ride with one of my riding partners the other day…very fit girl, probibly weighs 40 pounds less than I do, so she’s very light…she kept giving me grief because I was keeping up a stiff pace. Then she looked at my legs. “No wonder I have such a hell of a time keeping up with you on the road.” I told her it was just because she was still recovering from the flu…but it still made me feel pretty good nevertheless, because I know what a strong rider she is. I don’t typically ride with anyone other than her and Lee…and that guy is freakishly fit. I mean, he trains hard. So although I love riding with him, I hate riding with him, too. Especially now, because he’s in fighting fit mode, and it really pisses me off when we’re climbing a hill and he’s either keeping up a steady stream of blabber or doing wheelies up the freaking hill. I sometimes feel like flattening his tires; here I am barfing up a lung, and he’s barely breaking a sweat. Yeah, I know, he’s got those boy genes…but sometimes riding with him sucks.
One of the best things though, is being alone with my ipod. I know it might seem strange, but I rarely listen to music when I’m working at home…I’m either thinking music or playing music 24/7…but I have my faves in my ipod.
Of course I have Kiss; now that goes without saying…but it’s not just any Kiss songs. It’s the heavier songs from Revenge, and Creatures of the Night and Sonic boom cause I’m so addicted to it… but during a ride, I need heavier, double kick drum, lots of guitar distortion stuff. Especially when I’m riding alone; especially on a ride like I’ll be doing today…close to 2 hours. Metallica, Saliva, Avenged 7 fold, Disturbed…I have other stuff on there, but depending on what song comes on when, I do a lot of fast forwarding. I like Metallica on hills; long grinding hills.
Kiss is fine anytime, but if one of their songs comes on when it’s on a fun part of the trail, I rewind…Saliva is best for long hiway stretches so I can sing along. It’s also a good thing to sing when on trails alone. It builds endurance for the stage, too…another plus for fitness…I don’t want to be huffing and puffing and trying to sing…I also want to look good in my leather pants.
And of course, if I’m working on writing new song and I’m a bit stuck, it usually gets sorted out on a ride. Nothing like a good shot of Alpha mental state to get the ideas moving around.
If I didn’t ride my bike I would be in a xxxsize straight jacket, I swear. It’s proven fact that endorphins brought on by physical exercise are good for your all around well being; physical, mental and spiritual (I added that, because you have no choice but to commune with nature when you’re outside on a bike; road or mountain).
So I guess I’ve procrastinated enough…I’d better go get my bike gear on and get a move on…it’s really a good thing, and I am grateful every day that I am healthy enough to get on my bike and ride.
