Small Victories

My Wednesday afternoon calendar has a standing meeting. If you are familiar with Outlook, the tyrant of email agents, then you know that all calendar entries have a title, a location and time. The title of this standing meeting is "Blocked for yoga", the location is "start winding down", the time is 5pm. Only I can see the meeting content; my colleagues just see that my time is booked. The class starts at 5:45, but I need to block my calendar so that I won't get sideswiped by a phone call or impromptu meeting request. Why all the fuss? Because if I blockade my schedule, I have enough time to detach mentally (calm down) just enough to walk away from my computer, change into yoga clothes, put my leathers on top, remember to sling my yoga mat over my shoulder *before* I put my helmet on, and get on the road without feeling rushed.

There's a scary moment while I'm leaving the streets of my immediate neighborhood, will I remember something that I left undone that will blow up while I'm in class? If I can just make the right turn on to the main street, I home free, I'm safely on my way. The sigh of relief that emerges as I click through the gears is just one of the manifestations of the small victory of escaping from work. I roll my shoulders back as I wait at the light. The helmet adds a lovely weight to my neck stretch as I tilt my right ear to my right shoulder, then left ear to left shoulder. Another sigh of relief. The cold air passes over my eyelids. I breathe in deeply, the smell of the warm engine lifts into my nostrils. I exhale as slowly as I can. I've been sitting most of the day at my desk, and I'm sitting now on the bike, but this is riding, not sitting, and there is a world of difference.

Resources List

Rule #1 of Blogging: Provide useful, focused information.

I have finally created a
References and Resources page on my site. This page is years overdue but the framework is done, there is a good amount of content, and now I can update the content easily.

Want to give someone a pointer to resources for new riders? See the Special Interest section. Curious about schools to improve your own riding? Looking for bedtime or plane trip reading? Want to re-assure your middle-aged female friend that she won't be the only woman out there? Looking for an unusual travel video? Coming to California and want to know where the best rides are?

And, the list of motorcycle songs is now easily accessible. The page is not as pretty as I would like, but now at least you can get to it.

Caveat emptor: These resources and references reflect my experience and perspective.