F*ck Brunch training ride

I have officially begun to dig myself out of the fitness hole the winter doldrums left behind.  It started with bike path commutes instead of town commutes, which is a teensy thing, but what else is fitness and good health besides a big conglomeration of lots and lots of little things?

Next, I joined a race team!  Team No is no more, for now anyway.   TeamAF is all about riding hard, having fun and eating snacks.  What could be better?  Our early season training series is called F*ck Brunch, which is just what I need - less brunch and more rides.
  
A dozen of us did a quick and dirty, well, clean, road ride with pacelining and pushing hard and even little pats on one's tush to invite another rider to grab a wheel.  While huffing and puffing along, I chatted with another rider and we contemplated the idea of competition.

Competing can bring out the very best, and the worst in us.  What about competing with yourself?  What about competing with yourself as a losing proposition?  If you've reached your peak, or are simply on a plateau in your athleticism or speed or whatever measurement cyclists are using nowadays, what then?

I used to live by the code "training is for pussies", or the more common "training shmraining".  I proudly abstained from training and instead just rode my bike, then showed up for hard events and races ready to rock.  But for the first time in many years, I don't have a hard event or race on the horizon.  Yet, I'm training like a bandit.  Gym workouts have doubled and mileage is starting to trend up.  I've become the yin to my own yang.

To underline the immense privilege I enjoy, the universe threw me a little curveball on the way home from effing brunch.  As the rest of the team headed west to return to the Breadwinner cafe, I continued homeward on the bike path.  Soon I was calling 9-1-1 for a transient gentleman who was experiencing severe abdominal pains.  At the direction of the 9-1-1 operator, I was yelling over the din of freeway traffic to ask this poor man questions like "RECTAL BLEEDING?".

The perspective gained from moments like this is priceless.  It all started pouring in as I departed the despairing scene where emergency personnel helped this poor soul   Poor me!  Worrying about what big fancy bike race I might compete in.  Poor me!  Missing out on the Swift Summit 200/100 because I have an amazing wedding to attend.  Poor me!  Lamenting that a "hard winter" has my fitness in the crapper.  Poor me!  Backed into a corner where I work on my physical fitness for no other reason than good health.

And, so, I am happy to proclaim that I'm ready to embrace a new outlook this year, and enjoy "training for training's sake!".