The ride.

So, looking back now it all makes sense…the day was just kinda jacked from the start. I wake up within my usual window of time,4:15-4:30am, ya I know, that’s just how I am, even on the weekends I’m up at 6am…a guys gotta sleep in right? So, anyway I look at the clock and it says 4:18am and I’m like, shit ya, I’m totally going to sleep for another 15 minutes, but a crazy thing happens…when I open my eyes next the clock now says 5:38am…uhm, WTF just happened? So I get up, get my shit together and head to San Francisco…my schedule is good, I get there when I get there…no one is going to die, but for some reason I’m always running on a mental schedule of my own and when I deviate from it I get all puckered up, what the hell is that right?

Problem, here is my kryptonite, I can’t help it, around 10am I’m looking out over the presidio, the sun is starting to shine after a few days of rain and I start to think that today would be a perfect day for a mountain bike ride! I love to ride the trails right after storms, or even during storms…I’ve never been a dust fan and riding in the mud and water is always fun. So I text my wife Megan and tell her I’m heading home and lets throw the bikes on the car and have some fun, she’s like “shit ya”… so it’s on!

…But is it?

From the start little things were just not going smooth but I figured just getting back to Sonoma, seeing Megan and loading up our bikes would straighten all this out…close, but no. We load the bikes jump in the car and drive to Annadel State Park, about 45 minutes from our house. We come bombing down the parking area, pull into a great spot, jump out all pumped to get worked and wet and then it hits me….uh, oh! Megans looking at me thinking, whats up? I’m like…ya, …the funny thing….uhm…the key, you know the bike rack key…it’s kinda on my dresser..:/ So to be clear, I loaded up the bikes and I always lock the rack by habit…but then I went inside the house to get my riding clothes on and guess what…key in pocket, stayed in pocket…at home!

After all of this finger typing (yes finger typing..don’t judge) the point comes down to this. What happens next? Do you freak out, get mad, yell, cuss, pout or laugh? For me, it was just kinda shrug and be disappointed…but we looked at each other and said, “how about we just get back in the car and go hike the overlook trail back at home”.

I can’t say that 10 years ago I wouldn’t have been pretty pissed off and maybe even acted like an asshole because things didn’t work out, but I’m really happy that today I can say that I realized that as long as I didn’t act like an idiot…it was only going to get better. Megan and I drove back to Sonoma, parked and did a short hike together. As I was hiking and even now as I’m typing I just keep thinking about the ride, the ride of this crazy life. Thankfully I’m more patient and grateful than I was when I was younger, that doesn’t say a lot because I wasn’t much of either a few years back..but I am definitely heading in the right direction. It’s been a great ride so far and with my mountain bike and life buddy Megan next to me, this ride is going to just keep getting better.

Enjoy the ride, it really is all we have.