Let the Tour begin

Soft shoulder
East of London, ON
July 2010

I'm posting this shot as a way of motivating myself to get out of the house and onto the road. I've been a bit slack in the cycling department this year. Okay, I was slack last year, too, riding far fewer kilometers than I normally have. I admit the combination of changing work patterns - my growing load of media work means I often get called into studios on short notice, so commuting on two wheels just doesn't fit in as well as it did when I simply rode to an office, and stayed there, for the day - and fear are making me less jazzed about rolling the big pink machine out of the garage.

About that fear thing: For the first time last year, I felt it. I'd always ridden with a sense of invulnerability. I've been hit by a car, assaulted by a motorist and almost constantly harassed by morons who scream at me for kicks as they drive by. I had never let it bother me until last year, when suddenly I found myself worrying about not making it back home in one piece, if at all. It froze me to the point that I simply stayed inside more often than I ventured out.

I realize I'm overreacting. And I realize the need to balance the health benefits of the activity against the realistic risks of being out there on the road. So I'll push myself to take this irrational fear and shove it back into the hole where it belongs. And as for the next person who leans out a car window and yells at me for daring to occupy a sliver of the right lane? No sense letting the morons win. It's time to ride.

Your turn: What are you doing to get more active? Do you worry?