12th Month already?

December 1 has made its sneaky way onto the calendar. Where did the days go? In like manner, where did my enthusiasm for riding and exercise go? I'm not sure if this is just a stouter dose of my frequent November blues (I felt it coming on stronger this year than in several recent ones) or the effects of a persistent infection I now know is related to a tooth which is soon to be extracted, or if I'm just too close to 60 years old to be as sprightly as I once was, or if that "plant-strong" diet that Rip Esselstyn extols ( http://engine2diet.com/ ) lacks what my body needs to run on. In other words, MEAT and MILK :).

I'm still riding some, but no longer have any hope of being able to keep pace with my friends. I like to be on a bike though and that's good. I rode Last week both on Thursday and Friday. Thursday was a solo run with some measured pace but steep hill climbing. I enjoyed it very much. Even when my rear derailler started jumping into taller gears as I was straining up a 12% grade!  I pulled off and whipped out a tool kit to restore some "gription" to the friction shifter, and all was well. I did a 40 ish mile ride with the pals in Friday and while they loafed along, I was really straining. No core engine power there right now. A pretty day to be out, but less enjoyable from the sense of trying to stay afloat, if you know what I mean.

I was blessed with the opportunity to preach a sermon last Sunday. (email me if you want the video link) I got as much or more from the prep as the congregation did, I'm pretty sure. I was emotionally spent afterwards, and the weather was wet, so no ride. It was good to force myself to remember who is in control of events and that things happen either by His active will or by His consent. It can be very sobering to consider all the needs in teh world today, or even just some of the ones closer by. I've been praying for some friends of late and some people I don't really even know well, but whose lives have become important to me. Praying for others has a way of making them and what they face important. We shouldn't be afraid to feel hurt for the pain of others. It's better by far than nameless, faceless statistics. My current prayer partners include a woman recovering from breast cancer chemo/surgery, a woman striving to get well two full years after a leukemia diagnosis, a wonderful penpal who has just written me to say his wife has stage 4 cancer, a couple from back home in FL who are trying to adopt children, a CO cyclist friend who spilled on a mountain side downhill ride and nearly died, and still faces lots of recovery work, a local cycling friend I've just learned has cancer, and there are several others. I'm missing my friend Tom who died the same weekend that my son was married, from a lung infection that I still don't know the details of. I hadn't thought of him for a few weeks and then bam. There he was again.


Work has been stressful. 3 years of lean times will do that. Hopefully, that will improve, and we'll all dig into new challenges and feel reinvigorated. For now, some folks there are really getting under my skin. The reverse is probably true as well.

Hope to enjoy some rides this weekend. Will bring the camera and at least post some new pictures. 

Tailwinds!