The alarm sounded at 5:30am. It was time to begin. I didn't sleep well and considered another hour of snoozing. This was to be a solo outing, so no one was waiting for me. No one, that is, except May 2026 me expecting some basic ability to pedal a loaded bike up mountains. For this moment, on a dark late December morning, it was time to begin...brewing coffee.
Since late October ride intensities (duration, elevation, speed) have plummeted. I've been using my limited outdoor time soaking up the cooler weather with camping, coffee brewing, and wandering around. The bike was only incidental.
At my age, fitness comes in diminishing doses each year. Fitness, also comes slowly. It'll take months for me to prepare, so it is time to begin...pre-dawn solo rides in the hills.
Now is the time for those dark, cold, lonely miles. In no time, the rusted barbed wire brown all around us will be bright colors floating on a sea of green. In no time, there won't be enough time. Now is the time to begin...pedaling empty gravel roads.
Out in the open, the wind is always blowing. I find a long, straight, exposed segment of road. I pedal slowly into wind turbine spinning gusts for an hour and pretend to climb a thousand feet. It is time to begin...finding some real hills.
Today, I rest in sunshine, but soon I'll be seeking every shade. The first preparation rides are not aggressive. There isn't sufficient fitness. The whole idea, at the beginning, is to just log more saddle time. It is time to begin...more pedaling hours per week.
I did manage to find a few hills. They were hard but not devastating. I wasn't on a loaded bike. It isn't time for that quite yet. But it is definitely time to begin...building on today.
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