My mate Nige left a message on the home phone the other day. That’s a bit unusual in itself – I mean, who leaves messages on answering machines in 2012? “Orright, mate? You, me, Canberra this weekend. Wot ya reckon?” his Cockney twang boomed out of the earpiece. He’s a newly converted roadie who’ll give anything a go once, even if it involves landing upside down in a row of shrubs (a story for another day).
Now you’d reckon the choice should be an easy one. A quick road trip down to the ACT in good company, a few turns around Kowen Forest’s oh-so twisty goodness, a slap-up feed at Kingsleys and home again in time for the workaday grind. But my first thought wasn’t ‘yes’. It was ‘no’. And that’s a worry.
Since my most recent misadventures in Tathra, I can sum up my riding experience in two words; I haven’t. The roadie has sat silently in the shed for more than a month (closer to two, actually), after I blew the left shifter’s internals into sub-atomic matter (pictured below) – apparently you need a 6700-spec front derailleur to go with your new fancy-pants gear-swapper – while the only mountain bikes I’ve ridden have been for another freelance gig I’ve picked up.
To put it simply, I’m in the midst of Winter Malaise.
I’m eating for three, I’m avoiding the gym like I owe it drug money and cracking the code to lycra up again is proving elusive. And I’m starting to wonder whether I shouldn’t just surrender and willingly give over to it every July.
Think about it for a sec. There’s nothing wrong with taking a break – in fact, beating oneself up constantly about not doing intervals/not climbing Mt Kiera twice a day/not eating low-fat, low-GI soybean cakes just makes things tougher for yourself mentally, and really, that’s the only battle you need to win. So set it as a goal in the yearly calendar. July is hot chocolate and waffle month! July is dirty bike month! July is lazy Sunday lunch month! July is backyard renovation month!
Bit of a pity I’m down to do the Three Ring Circus, then…
That’ll be $200, please!
The Ol' Crank 