A summer spent chasing numbers, the irrational, and my wife?

 I’ve spent a week trying to devise a way to write this simple piece about cycling. You’d think a professional writer (Public Affairs) with an affinity for over-sharing on Facebook would have no problems whatsoever spewing out 500 words about something so important to him; the cycling theme is actually alluding to a huge personal achievement, so why can’t I ‘put pen to paper,’ if you will? It’s conflicting.

Quick update in the event you don’t know me. In June of 2018, I was struck by a transport truck during a charity cycling event. The following 2.5 years have been spent in recovery, and will likely describe how I will spend the rest of my life: Trying to recover. A severe concussion, PTSD, and a new and permanent neurocognitive disorder are the hurdles. 

So blah, blah, blah. On with the story.

The summer during which I was hit was obviously not a good one. I had only cycled 531 km by the time of the accident in June. Following the accident, I can only remember one ride. A friend offered to supervise my efforts, which was appreciated. But it was also far too soon. We rode 17 km that day, and I think that ended my season. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever ride again.

Move onto 2019. Over 100 medical appointments in less than a year. We worked on brains stuff, vision stuff, balance stuff, mental health stuff...you name it, it was offered. The end result...1,332 km. It felt absolutely epic! The only problem was that most of my riding was done at night, as I was suffering from a very irrational fear of riding in the daylight.

Then my cycling-life changed for the better. My wife took up the sport.

She is a rookie cyclist rocking an Argon 18. She dropped 2,600 km this summer. Let me say that again...a rookie cyclist, 2,600 km!

Almost everyone of those kilometres was logged alongside me. I may have been supporting her new passion, but she was supporting so much more.

I managed to hit 4,001 outdoor km before the snow started flying. That is over THREE TIMES the previous summer. This is something I deserve to be unabashedly proud of, and so I, will be.

Another word about my wife however. This summer, I completed my first solo 100 km ride. Of course I’d have never achieved that had she not achieved the effort first. Talk about throwing down the gauntlet!

Remember...rookie cyclist.

Thanks for reading. I hope to make writing a more regular ‘thing’ again.