The other interesting detail to mention is that Thursday was an unseasonably warm, 88 degrees, as I wore a short sleeve shirt for the second day to work for the first time since October.
This Friday morning brought a much colder morning. I bundled up in preparation for the cold winds that would chill me to the bone. However, chill was not going to be my problem.
I felt the winds blowing down my street cutting through the live oak trees and causing the wind chimes to chatter loudly. I considered for a moment the challenge of biking against the wind and strategized to start the bike trip first against the wind when I had the most strength.
Although my muscles remained sore from the day before, I flew down the hill for at least two miles before engaging the wind. I began feeling the lingering fatigue in my legs as I began biking east near Lady Bird Lake. The wind came from the north sweeping across my sheltered face hiding behind a hat, two hoods from the two pullover sweat shirts, another pullover and long sleeve t-shirt for good measure.
I progressed north and immediately hit a wall after feeling thoroughly warmed up. I peddled into the wind, which felt like charging through a quagmire of molasses and Georgia red clay. Oh, the misery!
When confronted with difficult circumstances, it is common, actually very human, to be confronted with a series of doubtful internal mental messages. In my head, a thousand times over, I thought about going home, turning back, retreating from this unhappy episode of biking.
My mind consumed with negativity I also thought about the good fortune of being able to hunker down, bike the good fight, and make it to the other side. For every negative thought, it takes at least one and half or more positive thoughts to counteract the effects of jaundiced thinking.
The more I rode through the wind, the more inclined did I feel the need to prove that I could make it. Call it persistence, hard-headed deterministic focus, or dogged optimism, I wanted to make the travail through to the end.
My greatest doubt came at the steepest hill. Once I made it to the top, I felt a simple, premature victory as I came to an assortment of upcoming hills. The key for me was that I made it through the first, most difficult challenge in the ride. Although each hill exaggerated by the gale force wind topping at between 25 and 30 miles per hour posed an opportunity for success, each achievement increased my confidence even though my legs seemed to wither.
The difference for this ride was that my mind and body were in alignment. My body has not been in shape for some time, yet I was reminded how the mind and body needed to be on the same accord to accomplish self-determined goals.
Looking at my time, it was taking me five minutes longer to make the same ride from the day prior. I was okay with it. Speed was not my rubric for success. Staying on task, continuing through difficult obstacles, and experiencing a sense of reward in successfully attaining my goal were enough to satisfy me.
As I made it home relaxing the last mile down hill, I did fill full of self-satisfaction, which I generally try to avoid. However, as I reflect, celebrating a personal achievement should not be ignored but cheered even quietly in the morning shadow of night with no one around to see.
The remainder of the day went well. The first hill made every other event seem easy to deal with.
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