The first 10 minutes

The weather is manifest in the perception of the first ten minutes of a commute. But really its all about how you like at it. It depends on what kind of person you are. The stress of knowing that you need to be at school in 1 hour, and NOT wanting to gear up and get pedaling. Thinking about your ride can be demoralizing. It can make you want to crawl up into a ball and hide under your covers all day. It sucks.

Negative thoughts attack my passion, and in turn, corrupt my focus. "Its going to be freezing-a pain in the ass-windy-wet-and then I'll have to sit in class in wet gear and then do it all over again to get home-why am I thinking about riding my bike?"

The first ten minutes of the ride is like riding through hell and back again, but once your back, you realize just why your riding your bike. Eventually, the cold feels good, and your body warms up. The water vapor in the air starts to smell good, and the wetness becomes comforting and in a sense it feels cleansing. The clouds surrounding turn from devils and gremlins to the falling enemy of thought. You start pedaling more efficiently, and you want to keep going. Your focus is only on riding. Your heart swells, and your eyes let out tears from the cold wind kissing your face. The commute could go on forever at this point, and you begin to realize that you actually thought about NOT riding. "How foolish that would have been," you say to yourself.

Its getting over the initial launch that is often the most difficult to overcome. The easiest way to avoid the first ten minutes of your commute is to void the bike and hop in the car. I do drive occasionally, but every time I do, I find myself easily distracted, and focused on other things that only cause more stress, like girls, money, friends, school, work, etc. But when you ride, your just focusing on the next pedal stroke and getting to the top of the next hill-nirvana.

So, the next time you begin to realize the possibility of tragedy on your next commute in bad weather, remember why you ride. Remember that its who you are, not what the weather is-and most importantly-$0.00g

Ride on