Fall Back

Two nights ago we fell back in time. I love falling back for about a day. I like going to bed at 3, waking up at 10, and still having gotten my eight hours of needed rest for Sunday morning frisbee. I like the day after when all the clocks in my life still read yesterday's time and I am pleasantly surprised to discover the time is wrong and there is an extra hour left of my Sunday. Even Monday morning, I like waking up to a lit apartment and a lit sky. By Monday evening though, I remember that this time change means shorter days and less opportune conditions for biking home from work.

We are three hours from Monday evening and I did not bike to work today. I don't expect it to be dark right at 5 but fairly soon after. But that doesn't need to stop me. I have bike lights and a bright yellow bikers jacket so I can be spotted from great distances. Last Tuesday, I biked to work, ran 5 miles with Nikki immediately after work, and got on my bike around 6:15 to ride 5 more miles home in the dark. Upon arriving home, it took me a little while to thaw out and gain back full motion of my fingers. Other than the cold, though, I had no complaints. I felt perfectly safe. In fact, I felt strong and proud. So much so that I texted Ingrid just to brag about what a badass I am.

Every subsequent morning, though, I roll out of bed in my cozy sweatpants, I shower and get dressed for work, and I walk to the metro bundled in multiple layers. I know I can brave the cold by bike but, when not in the act, I am scared to. The bottom line is that it isn't harder to ride in the dark and cold it is just a lot harder to motivate myself to. In order to follow through, I need to plan ahead so that's what I'm going to do. I hereby promise you, self and blog, that I will ride my bike to work tomorrow. And at least one more time this week. I checked weather.com and there is no rain in the forecast. That means no excuses not to ride and many excuses to keep blogging!