1. I do my best not to live in the past, of accepting the present for what it is, and I try not to yearn for the past or romanticize it.
That said, I admit that I found myself yearning to be my younger self riding a bicycle today.
I lived many years in Eugene and, for one stretch, in Spokane without a car. Especially in Eugene, I rode my bicycle all over town, especially coming and going to the University of Oregon. I went grocery shopping on my bicycle at times (when I didn't walk to the store), enjoyed riding the bike trails along the Willamette River, and I enjoyed just riding around, grateful for Eugene's plentiful bike lanes or streets marked as routes for bicycle riders.
My point? Riding my bicycle wasn't a workout. It was both a way to get around and a way to enjoy the feeling of generating some amount of speed with my legs.
Fast forward to 2023.
For the time being, at least, I am not able to enjoy free and easy bike riding.
It's a workout right now.
Every time I ride, it feels like I'm primarily exercising, not riding just for the enjoyment of it.
And, unlike those days of riding in Eugene, I now have to be very mindful of my exposure to the sun.
2. Today was a case in point.
After riding for over twelve miles on Friday and taking Saturday off, I decided today that I'd take a shorter ride to Smelterville and pay a visit to the Vendor Fair that was underway.
I thought I'd be fine. The temperature looked moderate. It was also partly cloudy.
I did fine riding out to Smelterville, but it turned out that going to the fair wasn't such a good move.
The fair was set up on a lot of rocks and weeds just east of Walmart and I soon realized that even though the air temperature wasn't that hot, the fair was totally exposed to the sun and just being in the sun was draining my energy.
I took some time to sit under cover beneath a canvas roof adjacent to the fair's beer garden and drank water.
That helped.
But I'd depleted my energy enough in the sun that the ride back to Kellogg was a struggle. (This was when my memories of free and easy bike riding came over me and I, yes, found myself yearning to be my younger self!)
I arrived at the City Park and sat at a picnic table for 20-30 minutes, drinking some more water, and trying to cool off.
I loaded my bike on the rack, got in the Sube and cranked up the a/c, and returned home. I spent much of the day continuing to cool off, hydrating, and, for the most part, resting.
I follow a routine every morning I enjoy a lot: I brew coffee, go online and get my fantasy baseball teams organized, converse online with Stu, work on Wordle, Quordle, and Waffle puzzles, blog, and, sometimes, work the NYTimes Crossword puzzle (if I haven't already completed it the night before).
It's going to take some effort because changing this routine will be challenging, but in order to continue riding my bike this summer, I need to ride in the cool morning air and in advance of the sun getting very high in the sky.
I might also need to assess my need for recovery more realistically. I'm wondering if the difficulty I had on Sunday riding from Smelterville to Kellogg might have been, in part, due to needing more time to recover from my Pinehurst to Cataldo and back ride on Friday.
Hard to say.
3. I rallied late in the afternoon and buzzed (in the Sube!) over to Yoke's and bought, among other things, fresh vegetables and upon returning home, I made just what I was hungry for: a huge green salad. loaded with produce: in addition to Romaine lettuce and spring greens, I tossed together mushroom slices, Cosmic Crisp apple slices, green onions, cherry tomatoes halved, carrots sliced, chopped celery, fresh basil, and feta cheese. I didn't dress this huge bowl of salad, leaving it up to Debbie and me to dress our own bowls. I dressed mine with raspberry balsamic vinegar, fresh squeezed lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper. I also added about half a dozen or more Kalamata olives to my bowl.
Having been overexposed to the sun and in need of cooling down, this dinner was perfect. It was fresh, cold, tasty, and, thanks to the lettuce, tomatoes, and apples, even hydrating.
As a bonus, there's plenty of salad left over for Monday.
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