Tonight’s ride was planned to be 20 miles again and began after dark because I required a siesta. Someone pounded on the door this morning while I was still slumbering away, getting my beauty sleep. And I resisted going because it was chilly. Still, I found the correct combination of layers the allow me to not be too drenched in sweat or freezing. For Texas, at least. But my ride ended early because I was on a sidewalk of a busy street with narrow bike lanes full of debris. A small car lot had blocked the way, so I had to go off a curb. And that gave me the “snakebite” puncture. I’d forgotten that my pump didn’t work the last time I flatted, so I gave up and hopped on a bus then walked the rest of the way home. I was eight miles short today, so I’ll make that up easily. And then it occurred to me: only 14 days remain in this most unctious, horrid and foul year. That’s a good thing.

It’s a good thing because a new year brings a new US president and the new vaccine for the microscopic thing we’re all dealing with in one way or another. For this dude it will bring a lot less, which is often not good. For me, less is more: less time on the bicycle, less miles, less effort, less fatigue, less suffering, less injuries, but also less fun. Why is that? Well, because of the year I’m having and already achieving my five year goal of riding the equivalent of the equator.

So, I’m sure you’re dying to know just what will I do with all this time I won’t be spending on the bicycle? Here are some thoughts:

• book work — doing things to get my manuscript out into the world
• cooking — hopefully healthy vegetable dishes
• music — picturing up my old instrument possibly
• reading — books, not news on the internet
• resistance training — using bands, weights and home exercises especially for upper body strength
• sleeping — getting more shut eye is key to so many things
• swimming — once it’s safe and warm enough
• working — maybe I can make money through this blog, but probably doing other stuff
• writing — maybe some fiction, other short works, or even starting another book

That’s a long list, and could seem like the beginnings of a list of New Year’s resolutions. But I’ve learned that is setting myself up for failure. While I plan to keep up my walking, writing, biking, and yoga streaks, I’m also ok with anything new being regular, not daily. Regular is a lot of pressure — like writing this blog. Overall as a Libra I’m seeking balance, and that’s for sure true here. Do what feels good, like Yoga With Adriene says. For me, that will be less biking. Although it won’t be easy to do, I think my goal for 2021, which is 3,334 miles, is a very modest and doable.

As the end of the year approaches, it’s good to reflect on what we’ve done, or not, and still hope to do. Another area that I may end up downsizing is this blog. I may also find that challenging because this has been a good exercise for me to practice writing and communicate some of my ideas. If I can make some money off it, which seems pretty unlikely without a large effort promoting it on social media, getting sponsored posts, doing product reviews, and so on, I might. So doing other writing makes sense during this time.

In the end, it’s all just an experiment. When one is over, you start another. Hopefully that means there has been some progress made. And with the future in front of us, we can all hope for better things in 2021. We cannot know what’s going to happen, and of course everything has always been uncertain. These days, that not knowing has been turned up to 11. Is this pain in my side “it”? I doubt it, but it’s something. What about that vaccine? The pending stimulus checks? We shall see what comes next for A Dude, and for you, and for all of us.

Time will tell. Because mimes will not tell. Anybody, anything. They don’t talk. They’re mimes, remember?

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