When there's lots of work (worky work-work...as in, my job) for me to do, it's a good thing for the family. But it's also a tough thing, because I don't get to settle in and be Daddy the way I wish I could. I don't get to play bike racer like I wish I could, either.
Not complaining. With my gig, I can stop in the middle of something and wrestle with Buddy or do some gymnastics with Reanie or look at what picture they've drawn or help find the chocolate that Mama has hidden. I'm not on the clock, and my boss isn't in the next cube seeing me go to the vending machine for the 5th time since lunch. Or whatever. I only need to make sure I get what needs to be done, done.
With our silly sport, though, there is that time commitment in that we can't just go to a 45min aereobics class a few times per week and be competitive. Again, not complaining, because that training time is also a decompression, reset, and whatever else "me" time I need. Gawd...I'm 40 and sounding like a fruit cake now.
When work is really heavy, that's when the hour or so to go ride is needed the most. I've got a training buddy who needs to ride, so that helps me push back from my desk, suit up, and roll down the road. And since he has some lofty riding goals and can't realistically go out and train on the roads by himself, yet, I really do have to go out with him.
Mondays are particularly heavy here at the office, and it's usually a light or off day for riding, and it is a day we need to be done early since Noah goes over to Lisa's on Monday evening. Our intent was to squeeze in Family time on Monday afternoons since the evenings and weekends Noah is with us are usually for racing. In the past couple of years, though, we've just not really made family time happen like we should, and that has been coming back to bite us in the collective Williams' butt.
But this past weekend, we took lots of time off of the bike to put in some family time and while it was an awful time to not get in the training, it was the best time to remember that our house is more than a transportation hub with comings and goings and nobody really staying until bath and bed time.
The work stress was adding up, Mama was in bed feeling ill, but the POSS2 were playing contentedly. I wasn't finding the window in work to stop for a bit, so I did something I've never done in 11 years of this gig...I just got up, thought unfinished, plan undone, and got dressed. We made the window to ride.
The wind was blowing, so I knew it was going to be something more than a leisure spin. And just as I pulled on my kit, I heard the rain hitting the window. But Noah didn't hesitate to get dressed, and within a few minutes, we were rolling down Hawk Rd into a 25mph wind. And we just kept heading west.
You know you have a good training partner when you can ride for several hours talking and not get sick of them. Same thing, though, about being able to ride with them and not say anything at all, and that be ok, too.
Yesterday was the latter type of ride, even if it was only an hour. We had a workout agenda, since we'd missed Thursday, Friday and Saturday, but the weather made the scheduled workout impossible, so we just started hammering. No talking, no discussion. We simply went from riding side by side to a two-man time trial.
After about 8 miles, Noah asked where we were going. I suppose it was a valid question to break the silence. Afterall, we'd been hitting it above threshold into the wind and rain and going 13mph at that point. Whether we were going to be chatty or not, it's nice to have an idea how long a beating like that is going to last.
We chose a 20mile loop, and from there, we just hit it like we were a breakaway. I'd pull at my limit, and he'd sense when I was starting fade and come around. I'd recover in his slipstream until it felt like I could lift our pace a bit. And that's how we continued in the stinging rain and hammering winds.
Until we got the tailwind, that is. At that point, we were still "training", but we were really only seeing how fast we could pedal the junior gears. We rolled up and over some decent hills at well over 30mph. We did the best we could with bike handling on the s-turns and slippery roads. Pushing it something past comfortable and into "I can't believe I just did that", and then realizing that maybe we could go faster. Well, ok...that last part only lasted until Noah started sliding out, but still.
Other than the brief discussion about "how far" and a very brief, "Stop pulling through so hard, you are dropping me on the hills", we didn't say anything to each other for that hour. On the cool down part that is a couple miles back to the house, we talked about how the ride sucked, but was really good at the same time. We talked about being glad we went out anyway (he never waivered, but I'm buried at work and didn't have to look for excuses).
And when I walked in the door, Reanie was excited to show me the picture she drew on the computer. Buddy insisted he show me his new dance, spin move, and while Mama was asleep in bed, at least she had a smile on her face (I need to thank whoever she was thinking about).
I stole an hour away from what needed to be a 16hr work day. Other than making sure they were safe, entertained, fed, bathed and put to bed, I wasn't much of a Daddy yesterday to any of them.
But now that I write it out, I feel pretty darn good about what I did do on the day.
Now, back to work.
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