We are in Columbus, NM for our off day, which is very near the Mexican border, so Bubba took us into Mexico (we could walk across the border after a 2 mile shuttle from the school we are staying at). Went to a place called The Pink Store for lunch & shopping. We also heard a talk at Pancho Villa State Park on the history of air flight (Columbus, NM is the original home of US Military air operations).
I know the last off day I didn’t blog, but I had some more thoughts I wanted to share with those of you interested about the riding experience from yesterday. I had a little trouble falling asleep last night because the whole day was on my mind. That was unusual for me - I have generally been sleeping well whether we are in a hotel, in a tent, or on a gym floor.
My thoughts revolved around whether I made the right decision to stop riding at lunch yesterday. Using the famous “Tevye” method of decision making from Fiddler on the Roof, here is my reflection:
On the one hand - I signed up for this trip to ride my bike all across the country, not to stop in the middle of a day and get driven to the destination city.
On the other hand - This was a day like no other with persistent headwinds of 20 mph+, and gusts up to 35 mph.
On the other hand - 5 other riders kept going, 2 of them made it the whole way before dark & I was ahead of them at lunch.
On the other hand - I am not as experienced a biker as any of them, so I really didn’t know how my body might handle a 10 - 11 hour sustained effort.
On the other hand - I had an advantage riding my recumbent bike because it is more aerodynamic & handled better in the wind than a traditional upright bike. I was passing riders in the morning that I have never passed before on this trip. Less than half the riders even made it to the lunch stop.
On the other hand - my legs were feeling more stressed than I have experienced even when I was going all out at some of the duathlons I have done. If I injured myself, it could jeopardize the rest of the trip.
There was more, but you can imagine how this kept me awake for a while. Eventually I worked through it & slept well. Here is what I decided:
It was appropriate that my MP for the day was the Kettle Moraine Hardwoods family. The decision I made biking followed the same pattern that we have used for over 30 years in making business decisions & that has served us well. We don’t over reach & take unnecessary risks, but we aren’t afraid to do something out of the ordinary. That has made us successful, but not rich. Many business owners take larger risks - sometimes they get rich, sometimes they go bankrupt if everything doesn’t go perfectly. I like the method of taking reasonable risk & working hard. I think it will serve me well biking across America, as it has served KMH in business.
Jim Waving
