That Just Doesn’t Work For Me

On Tuesday, I rode past an LA Fitness center and I felt sad (and a little smug, I must say).  There were a half dozen people climbing steps to nowhere, walking to the sounds plugged into their ears, and had their eyes glued to the screen in front of them, turned to some channel full of advertisements telling them that they needed something different than what they had.  The room was brightly lit.  They had their backs to the window.

I, on the other hand, was on a bike outside, with the intent of riding for an hour and a half with a friend, engaged in conversation.  Yes, it was raining.  Yes, it was 41° F.  Yes it was dark.

I was riding to the place where we would meet up.  The hamsters on the wheel drove to the gym, paid membership fees that will amount to far more than I pay for my bike and supplies, and have to drive back home.

That just doesn’t work for me.

Same level of light, same songs, same talking heads, same commercials, same temperature, same machine …. You get the idea.

I thought about this again this morning, as I took a little longer route to the Rusty Bridge.  I thought about this again this morning as I rode in the darkness with three other hardy souls who cannot imagine themselves anywhere else at 5:45 am on a dark and cold morning.  I thought about this again as I climbed off the bike at the front door of my home.

Three years of riding most mornings is way more often that I ever was able to go to a gym.

More power to them!  That just doesn’t work for me.

This Morning’s Ride: 22.5 miles
Month: 252 miles
2013: 252 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 20,024.9 miles