When in Doubt, Go Out

The wind was howling yesterday like a love-sick coyote. The car was shaking enough on the freeway coming down Cabbage Hill that I thought a tire might be going flat. I thought about how difficult riding bicycle outdoors might be and chickened out. I rode indoors while watching "Dr. Oz" and then a Rick Steves' travel program about traveling Basque country in Spain and France. Great shows. And I was happy with trying to do intervals, the calories I was burning and the "distance" I was covering. Still, the ride had no continuity. I kept finding reasons to get off and take short breaks.

That would never happen outdoors. If in doubt, I should ride outdoors and challenge the elements. It's good Vitamin D. It's also good training for conditions I might encounter on an important kedging trip, like the one Bill and I plan to take this July around the rim of Crater Lake, Oregon's only national park. Next time, if the conditions are at all favorable, in other words not downright totally miserable, with rain, sleet, snow and hail when only the postal service delivers, I'll ride outdoors.