I really wanted to get out and ride on New Year’s Day. I mean, while the day itself is somewhat arbitrary, I like the romantic notion of getting out on day one; first day of the year, first ride of the year, that sort of thing.
The thing was, while I liked the idea of it, I was having trouble getting myself to actually do it. This is unusual for me - I generally just enjoy riding. I hadn’t been out super-late the night before, nor had I over-reveled. Still, the wind was blowing hard out of the south, and I was working on other things (including Wednesday’s year-end round-up ). I also was waiting for my winter gear to finish winding its way through the wash. As the day wended on it got easier and easier to imagine not riding. I started to negotiate with myself, reasoning that I’d ridden the day before, and I’d have opportunities to ride on Friday and Sunday, and wasn’t that still pretty early in the year...?
Ultimately I negotiated with myself to set up a new, shorter route - all over familiar territory, but a slightly different pattern - so that it would be a limited commitment but still get me out on the trike.
Once the dryer stopped it’s cycle I pulled the gear out and made myself go. And five minutes into it I was enjoying myself and pleased to be out on the machine, out in the elements, embracing the day.
By the time I got back I felt much better, and I was very happy that I’d pushed myself into it. It wasn’t a long ride, or particularly adventurous, I was on the board for day one of 2020.
This is, I think, a familiar experience for many of us, even folks who exercise regularly. But it is helpful to have a periodic reminder of the phenomenon - that even when you don’t really feel like it in the moment, you will feel better if you just go ahead and do it. That reminder will hopefully help bolster the resolve for the next time you just don’t wanna...