...I have not ridden my scooter since July 12th! There, I said it. And I feel miserable and yet still can't get myself to get on it and ride.
Day after day I take the cover off and say I will take it out that day and then I don't. Too lazy, too distracted, too busy, too tired, blah, blah, blah.
Granted it's been way too hot some days, raining and storming others, or I've been working or busy or whatnot. But it's more than that and I am struggling to define why I am not riding now.
Part of it has to do with personal stresses that take my concentration to the point that I would not feel focused enough to ride safely.
Another part of it is that I am feeling tired of riding alone all the time or riding to the same places all the time. Boredom has set in.
Also when I feel anxious or depressed about stresses I want to "nest" in my house or on my back porch and not leave the calmness and comfort of my home and my canine companions.
I could add more layers of excuses and I'm not sure I'd really come up with an explanation that would suit me or really define why I am not riding.
It's some kind of "dry spell" that I can't explain. Maybe I need a vacation from the routine. Not sure.
Anyway, this is the way it is for now and I'm wondering...am I the only one who has gone through an extended time of not riding (by choice!) such as this?
Oddly too, it seems the more I don't ride the less I want to push myself to ride.
I love my scooter, but her battery is running down now. I do go out and start her up and let her run on the stand to keep it revved.
I feel I really am a neglectful owner in addition to a curious mixture of laziness, apathy, and "supreme-guilt-on-a-stick".
So I write about lazy dogs and wooley worms and time that is passing by as summer slips into autumn...but not scooting. At least not just now...
Deb
ReplyDeleteThere are times when I can't bring myself to get on my bike, as much as I love it, sometimes I just want to chill & not have to put on 30 odd pounds of clothing to go anywhere. I get bored riding the same routes and I get weary from commuting, particularly when the weather is cold and rainy. I was getting very road weary by the end of January. I try not to ride when I am not feeling the love and find If i am too distracted it doesn't make for good rides. I hear you about getting tired of riding alone, but because I have done it for so long I actually enjoy my own helmet time. It's the dog days of summer and the heat can be oppressive and not good for riding in. Take her for a rip down the road to charge the battery, then go lounge with your fur babies. Hey it's totally ok not to feel like riding,one day you will hop on and just go. Chill baby chill.
I feel it, yeah! I think I've got "too many irons in the fire" with work projects (all fun stuff that gets me out and about in the cage) and I am also winding down toward needing some clear time off from all of that. Got a cage road trip planned for mid-October and some other "down time" along the way.
DeleteI've always ridden alone as no one I know out here rides anything. I don't mind that so much, but sometimes I wish I had a bud to head out with on the scooter and do some exploring. I count what blessings I do have and try to let it go.
Yeah, I feel a "rip" coming on! LOL
Not just the weather has seasons. Everything has seasons. Our riding has seasons. There are shifts in our doings, even for those of us who simply twist and go.
ReplyDelete~k
Makes sense, really...
DeleteDeb, we all have dry spells. Like Dar, it's the suiting up that usually keeps me from using the bike more for short trips. The heat HAS been killer. I haven't ridden much this year either. At least it doesn't feel like it. Don't feel too neglectful, you'll get back into the groove.
ReplyDeleteThanks to all of you! And it's good to know I am not the only one.
DeleteI think when we start feeling it is an "obligation" or we feel "guilty" then the fun goes away. That's how it got for me with other hobbies and interests over the years.
Scooting was a bigger part of my time when I was not working out of my home for an employer.
Now I do and I need some space from ANY agendas more than I used to, I think that's part of the hiatus.
Well, I'm going to say just get on the scooter. Make yourself do it and then see how you feel. If you just go around the neighborhood and come back home, then it's probably about more than the scooter.
ReplyDeleteSo take care of what else is going on inside you and don't worry about the riding. Perhaps you are in a period of change and are unable to go forward with those life changes? I understand that!
In the meantime, try to think of something that interests you that doesn't have anything to do with riding and then maybe take some photos and write about it. I like reading about all kinds of things that don't have to do with riding any thing at all.
What's going on in your life?
You really are an excellent writer and I miss having something to read here. Take care of that mind...
ReplyDeleteThanks Martha!
DeleteI have some stresses, but mostly a vast array of interests and obligations (work out of my home on projects) that are revving up for the end of summer months. I do workshops, festivals, consultations, marketing, etc. which keeps me on the road.
I think I am going to hop on Squirt and run up to the Amish market, grocery, etc. and get in the groove of just doing some errands on her, if not longer pleasure rides.
At least I'm riding and charging up her battery, poor girl!
Thank you for the comment on my writing. I am working on another project that I hope to some day publish or have published. It is being written as a blog but I am gradually moving it over to my hard drive exclusively due to copyright concerns.
I work on it in spurts but need to get on it full-time through the winter and finish it up end of spring 2013.
If anyone is interested, I'd offer you the link via email request. It has to be read from beginning to current chapter, which blogs are backackards, as we all know, so keep that in mind if you peruse.
I'd appreciate feedback, good or back, and you could toss your Sominex! LOL
You can email me through the link to the right here.
DeleteDeb:
ReplyDeleteI am not consumed with riding. I ride or don't ride. In the heat I would rather enjoy wearing shorts & tank tops along with my un-shoes. Wearing all the gear in the heat doesn't make sense to me.
I had a couple of close calls this week, so I am driving and enjoying the A/C
bob
Riding the Wet Coast
My Flickr // My YouTube
I need to take your approach and just chill. I've been "riding the recliner" more in my free time this summer in the a/c and enjoying my trashy "true crime" shows more than I should!
DeleteDon't mind it at all! LOL
I firmly believe that if your head just isn't in it you are best staying off the bike since it takes all of your concentration. It is a smart move at that point not being lazy.
ReplyDeleteI haven't been on my bike since I parked it after coming home from the IMBC. It isn't that I haven't wanted to but the occasion hasn't arisen and I don't suit up for my 3 mile commute unless hubby needs the car for something.
When it is right to hop back on you'll feel it. My guess is when the weather calms down a little you'll be out there puttering around.
It sounds like you and I are alike in that it is hard to think of where to ride. We could ride the same old back roads but I agree they do get a little boring after a while.
My head definitely has not been in it. I am focused on so many personal issues right now, and I can't afford one little lapse of focus on a ride.
ReplyDelete