Wednesday is normally a ride day. We have a standing group ride, gravel or mountain bikes, that leaves around 7:30am. Last Wednesday, however, I had a contractor coming at 9 to measure our roof for solar panels, so no big deal, I could ride at 9:30 or 10 with another friend, but my afternoon was packed with other meetings, so I didn’t see how I was going to be ready for a noontime meeting, a visit to a client, a podcast recording, and then a 5pm meeting, so I didn’t ride.
For most of you, this will sound like any day of your life. When you’re busy something’s gotta give, and normally that’s your ride or whatever other leisure time activity you might have planned, like eating cake or playing mini golf.
But that’s not how I roll.
Before the pandemic I worked full time and then some at Seven Cycles. I was overcommitted in three different ways, with a chronically ill father, two young kids, and an over-pregnant work schedule, and so basically, I crashed and burned. My dad died. Then my brother got cancer and died. My mom got cancer and lived. The pandemic shut Seven down.
In 2020, a tidal wave swept over my head, and frankly, being forced to sit home, quietly, just working on TCI turned out to be all I could handle for a little while.
Of course, time passes and heals some wounds. Even those of us who were pretty comfortable in Covid’s muted workflow, realized we’d have to get back to something like normalcy again, so I added work back into my life, and you know how work goes. The more you do, the more wants to be done.
And that brings me, finally, to the crucial point of what I want to talk about today, which is how I try to find balance, especially as regards riding my bike.
Because the bike is a real priority for me. I see over and over how people in the bike industry stop riding because they’re too busy, and it just accelerates their burnout and turns the whole project of delivering bikes to other people into a slog. I never want that for myself. I also feel strongly that I have to be riding in order to be writing about bikes and riding meaningfully.
Friday before last, I also had a busy day, but I actually blew it all off and went to the bike park with my friend Stef. I hadn’t been downhilling via lift since a couple sessions at Mt Snow in the ‘90s, but there again, I think, for me, it’s important to constantly seek new bike experiences, so yeah, I cut out and spent the day rocketing downhill with an unhinged grin plastered across my stupid face.
Totally worth it, even if I had to play catch up over the weekend.
My question for you is, how important is riding for you? Do you blow other things off to ride? Or does the ride always give way? If your decision making is more nuanced, how do you figure out the priority of riding over working, and how do you feel about forgoing rides?
how important is riding for you?
Absolutely critical
Do you blow other things off to ride?
Frequently
Or does the ride always give way?
Too often
how do you figure out the priority of riding over working?
Bike commuting is key
how do you feel about forgoing rides?
Miserable
Honestly, without cycling I’d likely be dead. Several members of my immediate family tree didn’t make it to my age. Instead I’m in better shape than most men half my age. If I can’t get in that long weekend ride, then commuting scratches that itch. If I need a ride to work but have an offsite meeting, I’ll often blow off the meeting or just dial in. It’s a constant battle to keep riding when so much of our society is aligned against it, but I’ll never give up all the wonderful things it does for me.
Btw Robot, I’m really sorry for your lost family members and the terrible struggles you’ve been through. Our devotion to cycling may seem trivial to outsiders, but we know how it can help heal. Best wishes that things only get better from here.
I make time to ride looking for ways to include it in my days, weeks, months, years. This is not at the expense of responsibilities, but worked into and around them. In fact I often will couple/bundles them together (doing a ride and the picking groceries/mail/errands).
I’m psyched you “sent it” going for some bike park shenanigans recently. I have long been a fan of simply running what ya brung when it comes to park riding and despite having ridden in many bike parks all over I’ve never actually owned a legit DH bike. Riding such a machine makes such scenarios maybe more manageable, but certainly isn’t necessary. On the contrary having a quote “do-it-all” bike IMHO adds more fun and intrigue into such situations. I love that my sled will do just fine on an XC ride and then I can drop in on something ridiculous without any changes handling either end of the spectrum with more than 90% of what I could do with something more specific. The only limits are your skillset and confidence.
Well, hmmm. As it turns out, I was sitting here thinking “I really want to ride. But I really need to write an article for TCI.” Thanks Robot! I’m blowing off my work commitment and going for a ride instead! Yer the best.
Not riding sucks. So I try to work in some sort of ride even on busy days, or double up the following day. I need the mental health break of getting out on two wheels and letting my brain decompress.
Great topic, Robot. As I have often told my cycling friends, if you don’t see rides from me on Strava (I ride by myself most of the time now because I’m so slow), I’m probably in a dark hole somewhere. Been in one of those pits recently. Need to climb out, and that starts by getting on the bike.
That sounds like a tough year that you described. Riding is a balm. It doesn’t solve all of one’s problems, but for those of us who love to ride, it is an essential component of sanity maintenance.
In the past few years the rides have given way to responsibilities- life just kept coming at me. Commuting to work at least once a week help get me through this period. Things have chilled out lately and I’ve been able to fit in some rides simply for my pleasure and it feels good.