I enjoy getting prepared for my bike rides. I love everything about my bike rides, even the ones that don't turn out so well. I had enough years of riding a heavy steel 10-speed, wearing street clothing and either walking, cycling or taking a bus to get to my destination. Now this is my time, my years, and I revel in it. I love every aspect of the cycling: the computer, the training log and tracking the data over time, comparing my bike data year-to-year, planning new routes, getting better in tiny increments, exceeding my fitness goals, having the doctor exclaim to me how great I look and how healthy I am, increasing my cardio endurance to levels I did not anticipate, participating in the charity rides, meeting cyclists, doing something on a ride that I didn't think was possible like getting up a 16% grade without shifting into my granny, having two drawers of really cool jerseys that I love to wear like the Voler one that states on the back that "I never give up" and the list goes on. Getting on my bike and riding is a joy, every single ride. Maybe it is because I had years and years of not being able to ride due to injuries, so I appreciate and love these years that I have right now to ride my bike as often as I can.

And the best thing the cycling has done for me is that I can jog/run again and go on long steep climbing hikes. In 1985 an accident shattered the bones of my left ankle joint, leaving me in extreme pain for the next 7-8 years and without a functioning joint. I was told a lot of things by the orthopedic surgeon, like I would never walk normally again, would certainly never run, and would not be able to ride a bike, and I should have the remaining bits of bone fused together like Bill Walton or I would be begging for narcotic drugs. I was able to get back on the bike in 2006 and somehow all of that pedaling over the past years did something to the lame foot, strengthened the tendons and ligaments and allowed for increased flexibility like having a working joint, and this summer I was able to go to the local college track and run 3 1/2 miles on my first time out, real slow, but I was jogging. So up yours doctor orthopedic surgeon.

No, nothing about getting prepared for a ride bores me or tires me. I love it all. I hit bottom with many years of not being able to move my body very well, so I really appreciate the years I have been given to ride my bike, and I glory in all of the nuances of cycling.