Today seems like a good time to look ahead.
On my Facebook page yesterday, I joked about how to fill my time this fall with no Iowa Hawkeye football, no Loras College football, no one in our house able to play soccer this fall because of COVID-19 and no more homework/studying to consume my weekends. (I’ve been in an MBA program for the past two years that I should finish later this month.)
“My, God,” I joked. ” I’m gonna have to do the stuff Janet wants me to do.”
One thing I hope we can do together more this fall is bike. For many years, from late March or early April until well into November, I biked at least three or four times a week, usually riding 3,000-plus miles in a season. To be honest, I did this partially because my life wasn’t the happiest then and long bike rides provided a great way to get house of the house for hours at a time. And cheap beers and hamburgers after the rides also provided plenty of incentive. Biking is how I really got to know Janet.
Life has changed a lot since she and I have been together — all for the good. For the past five or six years, however, biking has taken a backseat to family activities, weekend volleyball and soccer tournaments, church and my homework among many other things. In that time, I’ve become slower and not at strong on a bike as I used to be. And road bicycling in particular has become much scarier, mainly because of distracted drivers. Going to the funeral of a friend, probably the strongest and most-experienced rider I’ve ever known, after he was hit from behind by a motorist, has made me think twice about road cycling.
But I miss the time I had to think while out on a long ride. I miss the fellowship after the ride. While it’s still nice in September and October, I hope to load up the bikes and find some new places to ride.
Brome Hill 