Are you serious?!

Well — that depends on how you define it. Do you have to  check off every item on this list before you can \”join the club\”; or does it mean training like a pro, and regular racing?

Does it mean a century ride every month? Wait a minute. Are you serious?! I\’m far from the fitness level required to tackle a century every thirty days.

I\’ve carried out a total of four self-supported century rides. Am I in the club? Each time, I had to build up to the big ride over several months. First I did a century on the trike. What a long, hard, COLD day that was; and afterwards, I felt almost incredulous that I had actually done it! Looking back, it\’s still rather hard to believe it.

The tricycle century was a February ride. Later that year, after I got reasonably well adjusted to two wheels, I did two more centuries; one in October and one in December. The following April I bought a road bike; and I did a century on that one, too.

Does making attempts to improve one\’s force count as serious cycling? Over the past few weeks such efforts have often fallen by the wayside. Cold and windy weather make it hard for me to do much besides just trying to get in some miles. It makes me feel like a weakling.

For a long time, vague thoughts of another 100-miler have been drifting around in my mind. Am I a non-serious cyclist for not doing more to act on those thoughts? And how about commuting to work by bicycle?

Not that it really matters whether you\’re a serious cyclist or not — not in this blog. We\’re here because we love to ride, aren\’t we?