Today was “ride when you don’t want to, don’t feel up to ride” day. The inner responsible person had to subdue the inner whining lizard child not once, not twice, but three times before keeping the bike pointed to the destination of work. This is the kind of day that cause even hard body, strong willed, training to ride Iditarod cyclists to praise commuters.
I don’t agree with Jill’s assertion “[People who bicycle commute to work every day] belong on the upper tier of cyclist groups; they belong at the top … just above, of course, winter endurance cyclists.” I’d put winter endurance riders and a whole lot of other groups above commuters. Commutes are short and short rides make small stuff of unwelcoming weather. The conditions today were nice and pleasant compared to what endurance riders train through. It was even nicer (light rain, about 34°F/1°C, southerly breeze) than other recent days. I just had to deal with my own body and mind are saying No! forcefully.
Thanks for indulging my whining.
I always think these kinds of days are good for testing one’s mettle; if you can ride to work on a day like today, it should be easy every other day!
I tend to agree with J on this one. Daily commuters ride as much as (and sometimes more than) professional racers, and they don’t get paid to ride. Nor does a sponsor hand them a new bike if the old one is crashed or stolen. They suffer a lot of social disapporval for refusing to drive a car to work each day, and often their own families don’t understand them. Daily commuters are my heroes, and the people I want to be like when I grow up.