Riding 50 Miles

Back in an earlier life I used to ride my bicycle to the tune of about 2,500 miles each year from March through November. A lot of those miles were racked up while on group rides.  I admittedly wimped out during the winter. There were many guys who went out in the coldest weather in January, but not me. There was something about riding for hours with snot frozen to my upper lip, my lower lip, my chin, and the front of my jersey that just didn't appeal to me. I also didn't like the idea of freezing my fingers and toes off. When the weather turned cold, I stayed inside, firmly planted to the sofa. I had all the equipment to ride inside, but for me that was about as exciting as cleaning frozen snot off my face.

When we did ride, though, we rode fast. Our rides almost always followed the same 50-mile out-and-back route. By mid summer we'd be up to about a 22 mph average, with sprints reaching up towards 40 mph. The only way I could keep up is by sitting in on the back. Once in a while I'd get into the middle of the pack. I was pretty good at riding shoulder-to-shoulder and wheel-to-wheel, but I've fallen a few time and got some pretty nasty scars on my knees and elbows, I've been hit by a car, and I wiped out once and broke my collar bone. That last one was in 1999. I put the bike away, began my Master's in education, and never looked back. I think back about where I'd be now if I'd started Aikido again back in 1996 rather than getting on the bike. Even so, I'd only have been able to play for three years at the most before I would have had to quit when I returned to school.

The point is that I'm happy that I did things the way I did. I rode in several century rides (100 miles in a single day) - something I never thought I'd do before deciding I'd do it. Getting my Master's allowed me to teach. Teaching means that I haven't "worked" a single day since I started in September 2001 - that's how much I love teaching. Are there frustrations? Of course. But there are challenges in any profession, and if someone can't deal with a few minor challenges, then they have no business being a teacher, or having anything to do with children.

I have my lovely wife. I have my amazing children. I stood  by my eldest daughter's side while she studied Tae Kwan Do on Tuesdays and Thursdays, even though I knew there was an Aikido dojo practicing on the same evenings, and there was no way I could do both. When my daughter decided to quit, that was my chance to play Aikido one more time. Now I've been back for about one and one half years, and I'm having fun, and I'm getting better. I'm really starting to get better at Aikido.

The point here is that today we had a two hour weapons class. We worked on happo giri (sic?) hapo giri?; we worked a technique that we did with weapons and open had alternately; and one small part of the 31 jo kata. We worked about six or seven steps with a partner, then ran the whole kata several times by following sensei as he did the entire 31 steps. I don't remember much of what we did any more, but it was fun and I am exhausted. How exhausted? About as exhausted as a 50-mile ride with my group would leave me. And not once did I break a bone or get hit by a car.