So it's been a few years since my last post, you might have noticed or not. Life got busy and complicated and busier and more complicated and then bam, the sh*t hit the fan, and here we all are together in a pandemic.
Like a lot of folks, I am mostly out of work, namely dog walking and other pet care, a self-employment enterprise that has kept me moving on my feet or on my bicycle seat the better part of every day of every week, traveling from customer to customer. More about that later, but feel free to check out my 220 5-star reviews at
www.rover.com/sit/anneev.
Anyway, yesterday morning I woke up to the same nightmare we're all waking up to each day and found myself simply overwhelmed by anxiety, mind racing, muscles tense. I breathed deeply, did my stretching, tried to talk myself out of it, kept busy with household tasks and organizing projects. The distraction helped but was not a cure.
😬
Around 2pm I ran an errand, and by ran, I mean pedaled, of course, and no real surprise, started feeling better. Since my normal daily commute is around 20-35 miles, this short jaunt was just a tease. Hence began the inner dialogue and debate on the way home about what to do next. Dishes filled the sink, organizing projects sat disorganized, vegetables required cooking, laundry begged laundering, to-do list needed doing, plus the clouds were threatening rain at any moment.
But the pedaling felt so good, physically, mentally, emotionally releasing and relieving. Damn the rain and to hell with the imaginary deadline for questionably critical tasks! If I raced home, no doubt I would make myself crazy again rehashing the news and social media sooner than any household chores or "to-do's" would get done. So I hung a right, deciding to follow Evergreen Parkway to the end and back, a mostly flat route I used to travel regularly, but haven't frequented in a while.
By the time I reached the west end of Evergreen, I was practically giddy. So giddy that rather than turn around, I turned south and just kept going until I hit downtown Hillsboro, posing for another goofy selfie in front of Hillsboro Civic Center. The plaza was empty, but the memory of it filled with farmers' market booths and shoppers brought me joy. By then my fuel tank (tummy, that is) was rumbling, a cause forwarded by the farmers' market memories, and only a few hours remained in the day before my early bird bedtime, so back toward home I pedaled.
On that last leg of my 17 mile detour, I decided to revive this blog and the Suburban Bike Ninja Facebook page because, hey, why not? I've finally got time available, and at the very least these chronicles will serve as my own little diary of daily life and happenings in the historic spring of 2020. Further motivation springs from the possibility that some reader (maybe you?) is inspired to test out their bike as an anxiety antidote. Stay at home orders don't prohibit outdoor exercise, so give it a try - for your mental health, for your physical health, and just for fun. Share your thoughts and experience in the comments or on Facebook. And of course, wash your hands, don't touch your face, and keep 6+ feet between you and the next human! Happy pedaling
😁
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