So this morning I got up, dressed, brushed my teeth, fed the cats, did some dishes, made coffee, made my lunch, watered the plants and still had some time to sit on the back porch and drink coffee before work. Back porch time includes this post. It feels good.
Last year Pat and I talked about how our visits now have to be purposeful, as we’ve outgrown the “Let’s just get together and do stuff,” of our 20’s. Thinking about that I came up with a plan. The new plan / aspiration – bike from Cleveland to Buffalo over the course of a weekend. Pat can ship his bike from Portland, Maine to here. We can then split the 200 mile ride over two days – spending the night in Erie Pennsylvania on the way out since it is almost exactly the half-way point.
However during the conversation 22 Year Old AJ combated 37 Year Old AJ. 37 year old AJ is ready to go. However much it would suck, it’d also be fun. When 37 Year Old Pat raised concerned that he’s not sure he’s ready for a one day 100 mile ride, much less two 100 mile days in a row. 37 Year Old AJ commiserated, I mean after all my legs are sore after biking 150 miles over one week. But in my mind biking 100 miles in one day would be something that I go at a much more reserved pace than when I’m just out biking 20 – 30 miles. But 37 year old Pat has valid concerns and 37 Year Old AJ understood them.
Now in the back of my mind, 22 Year Old AJ was hurling insults of all sorts towards Pat to goad him into riding. After all, it was 28 Year Old Pat’s insults that ultimately led to me shattering my collar bone when I initially was hesitant about doing something and let him goad me into it.
When I told Pat what 22 Year Old AJ was shouting, he said 22 Year Old Pat was right there in the back of his mind as well. 22 Year Old Pat was ready to make this both a race, drinking competition and put some money aside for a bet on who would do better on this trip. Yeah….22 Year Old AJ had all those ideas too.
We haven’t thrown out this idea completely, but 37 Year Old Pat and AJ apparently need to evaluate their lives a little more before actually embarking on something like this.
