so, how'd ya do this week?

i proposed a question on monday to see if you would try to trick that voice in your head that tells you "no, i can't," to flip it and ask, "why not?"

the past couple of weeks i've been taking page street home, as opposed to "the lazy," (aka the wiggle) as coined by a friend of the blog. i don't think the camera phone does that hill justice, but, meh, you can sorta see why people avoid taking it in large numbers.

and just last night was butter lap. i've had a little bit of a cough and crapola allergies lately, so breathing has been rather hard. and breathing is sort of important while going uphill. and last week i had some tire chorro and wasn't able to complete it even though i had started it.

enough with the excuses and other issues i told myself. i have got to finish it this week, and that's that. august is only getting closer, ya know?

on my way to the ferry building, the wind was so strong i almost got knocked into another bicyclist. he was rather kind about it, and we both just went sort of slow down market street since the wind was relentless the whole way.

the little voice in my head kept nudging me telling me i didn't have to do butter today cause it was gonna be hard.

you know what? it was hard with the headwinds, sidewinds, everywhichway winds. but then if i hadn't i wouldn't have been able to see this along crissy field:

or this at the 2nd stop:

hard, but still did it. so worth it. and...after work i love just riding along the flats looking at the bridge in the distance, watching it wax and wane as i travel around it. its firey orange never ceases to amaze me with its stunning beauty sitting majestic among the headlands greens, ocean grays and skies blue.

and yah, that is why i am glad i flipped it.

so, dear readers, on this day being sunset of the week, i wish you a happy great weekend. may it be full of riding and bikes and stuff. ;)

limits

lately i've been rather enamored of the wnyc show, radiolab. i've been listening it to sporadically at work, despite the interruptions involved.

the most recent episode is called "limits." physical limits, mental limits, that sort of thing. the second story in the below segment highlights the RAAM, or race across america. 3000 miles. 10 days. think you could do it? what about going into it with "minimal" training? would you even want to do this? where does this desire to test oneself come from?

the RAAM segment starts at about 16 minutes in.

(i personally recommend that you listen to the first story too, about a woman who discussed completing the 4th ironman triathlon...)

the radiolab page for this show also has a link for a documentary about the race, bicycle dreams.

so as we venture into another week full of commuting, training, living life, working, whatever, try to think of something you previously thought was impossible and then tell that voice in your head, "no."

see what happens.

have a great monday everyone.