Biking Chronicles Issue No. 10
When I started biking about two months ago, I ride an average of around 6 miles per ride, 2 to 3 times every week. In the past 1.5 weeks, it became almost everyday at the average of 10 miles per ride.
Yes, it has become a routine, and it has become increasingly difficult every day to drive myself out of the bed, and haul my ass to ride my bike on a barely 60-degree morning. Two weeks ago, I was telling myself…”Damn, there’s no way this can become part of my daily routine. It would eventually become boring.”
One day, I was waiting on a doctor’s lounge and I happen to pick up an June 2008 issue of The New Yorker. I came across an article by Haruki Murakami. It was entitled “The Running Novelist.” The first part was very boring, it was “ME-Me-Me-I’m-so-awesome-you-should-worship-me” to the point that I thought it was a ego masturbation in essay form and had nothing to do with the title.
Then he talked about how he started running and incorporated it in his daily routine, and how he overcome the excuses not to run on a day he doesn’t feel like running. I don’t really want to spoil how he put it in words…but I would say that once you read it, you may find it condescending on his part…well, because…he’s a full-time novelist…he works, what, an average of 2 hours per day? Compared to an average joe working about 8 hours per day? Of course, he has no excuse to run everyday!
However, once you really think about it: in my case, I could easily waste an hour watching TV or playing video games…surely I have an hour to ride my bike. It has become my inspiration/drive to get myself out of and haul my ass to ride my bike on a barely 60-degree morning.
Of course, it’s not like I drag myself to ride my bike everyday; most of the time, I actually look forward to it.
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