Time.  In.  The.  Saddle.  What did you think it meant?  A doctor who bikes told me this, so it’s okay.  And he’s right.  Spending alot of time sitting on a bike seat, legs spinning out the miles while time goes by, is what one needs to do to feel comfortable on long bike rides.  A Dude enjoys alot of T.I.T.S, going 10-miles an hour average with stops as he does.

So Tuesday night, feeling tired, not having a riding buddy, but knowing it would rain the next day, and as Monday was mostly a rest day, I suited up and got back in the saddle.  Because that’s what A Dude does, even when he doesn’t particularly feel like it.  Instead of puttin’ on the ritz, he’s puttin’ in the T.I.T.S.  Here’s my 33.5-mile ride results on Strava.

It was a chilly night, but eventually I had to remove my hat with nose and mouth cover, outer gloves, and unzip jacket and jersey.  I had a fun thought and did a fly by of the residences of one riding partner and then the place of another friend.  Strava isn’t 100% accurate, but it shows I was there, for sure.  But I didn’t stop, because that would mean less T.I.T.S.  Still, good times.

Winding my way back north from nearly to the Austin airport, I found myself on my old friend, the Southern Walnut Creek Trail.  Riding it at night is fun, now that I know the way well, plus with my super-bright rechargeable Serfas Thunderbolt lights that I lucked upon at the Bike Farm and a freebie orange and yellow safety vest I got lucky and got for free at the Yellow Bike Project, I feel alot more comfortable.  (How’s that for name-dropping?)  Saw a cottontail rabbit who almost ran in front of me, and then nearly hit a possum.  The three wild boar I saw previously were not there.  Five guys having a party were the only humans I passed.

Time is short and A Dude is tired, so I’ll say that at one point I heard coyotes.  People in cars yielded the right of way.  My knees hurt.  So did other things I won’t go into.  Nothing happened, and yet everything happened:  life, going by quickly.  I had seen my friend’s riding on Strava, so I set out with a goal to bike more than my riding buddy did.  The rain only fell in sprinkles, and I did not fall off the bicycle, get hit by a car, or receive a ticket.  I simply put in the time in the Saddle, and that is it’s own reward.

Of course having the ability to spend hours biking and thinking of something else is a bit of a luxury.  But one with blood, swear and tears, too.  More to come but I welcome your invitation.  Keep on reading, and I’ll keep on writing.

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Thanks! A Dude Abikes

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