MFM Day 34: Take the Weather With You

October 2nd, 2009

Motor Free Month Day 34: Take The Weather With You

Motor Free Month just will not die! It’s a Zombie. “Miles! More Miiiiiles…” it groans. Well I think I know how to lop the head off of this monster and send it underground for good. The Century ride! That’s right, I’ve got a century ride coming up tomorrow. 100 miles on the bike. The “hundie”, “hundee”, “hundy”, or “Hyundai”, as is it’s affectionately known around our house. No matter the spelling, it’s going to be a long ride. This will be my fourth hundy (preference shown), my second this year. There’s something quite alluring about being able to ride 100 miles. Two years ago I made a resolution to do it, as I’d never gone that far before and I thought it would be a good challenge. It ended up being a great challenge, as I decided to go to Estes Park for my first hundy. That took all day!

Tomorrow’s ride is less hilly and more straightforward. We’re riding from Fort Collins to Boulder and back starting at the Noodles & Co. in the Fort, and turning around at the Noodles & Co. in Boulder. It’s called “Noodles 2 Noodles.” I did it on my own last year, in November. Not the recommended time of year for a ride of that distance. This year C_ will join me, and 3 or 4 other friends. And it’s in October, which contains a much higher probability of it being above freezing. Although I suspect the first hour or so will still be quite cold. We’ll just have to ride fast to keep the blood going I suppose.


Why Noodles 2 Noodles? I really have no idea. I have so particular fondness for the place. There’s a Noodles & Co. very close to our house, which must be what started the idea. I think I’m incapable of just going for a ride. It’s got to have some sort of epic or novel quality to it. Eat at two Noodles & Co.’s in the same day! Step right up! Whoo-hooo! Truth be told I doubt we’ll eat Noodles when we return tomorrow afternoon. We might get a beer there though. It’s more for the landmark I guess. And something about that name. Noodles 2 Noodles. Reminds me of “Soul II Soul” from the 80s. People respond to Noodles 2 Noodles. I can’t get anyone to go on a century ride with me. But a Noodles 2 Noodles ride? Sign me up! You’ll see, this will be bigger then E-Rock in a few years.


Brian helped me get my bike all tuned up for the ride. As you may recall it was not riding all that smooth last weekend on my trip to Denver. The rear derailleur was off kilter, and it was making awful squeaking noises. Brian, Super-Bicycle-Repairman, assisted me in adjusting the derailleur and determining the source of the squeaking (those little pulley wheels were to blame). See how he uses a spanner to tighten that nut! Bicycle repairman, how will we ever repay you? So Eric is ready to go. C_’s bike, named Black Beauty or Bête Noire depending on the sort of ride she’s having, is also tuned up and ready for action.


So adventure awaits us, and that as it should be. You may have picked up on how my desire for “adventure” has propelled me towards this Motor Free Month challenge. Like many I spend much of my life working my job, doing the dishes, avoiding doing the dishes, and trying to avoid just going through the motions. But I know people that have done amazing things, had incredible adventures! My (ex)-co-worker Andy, for example, quit his job and sailed from Mexico to New Zealand. Dave recently returned from hiking the Appalachian Trail. Mark’s climbed Himalayan peaks.


Song of the Day: Crowded House, Weather With You (from Woodface )


There’s a tremendous amount of adventure out there to be had, but sometimes I get sucked into the day-to-day and lose sight of the adventure that is right in front of my nose. Hence the Motor Free Month. Was Motor Free Month about the environment? Fitness? Blogging? Certainly those things to some degree. But Adventure comes closest to the mark. And it’s almost a subversive sort of adventure, one I can do right here at home. I may be sitting in my cubicle staring at the computer screen all day, but I’m on a Motor Free Adventure, sitting in my cubicle, staring at the computer screen all day. Somehow that makes all the difference. That’s the same spirit that drove me to add golfing, a trip to Denver, a hike in the mountains, and now Noodles 2 Noodles to the Motor Free Month.


If I was only doing this for the environment, I don’t think I would have approached it with nearly as much zest. Billy Bragg sings, “There is drudgery in social change.” Clearly his revolution was not of the 2-wheeled variety. Thanks goodness for adventure, even, and maybe particularly, adventure on a local scale. I’ll be happy to end Motor Free Month as it has entailed some hardships, but I don’t regret the experience.


On another note, I’ve taken down the song of the day links; my home page hosting site was none too pleased with the songs on my web page and asked me to take them down, which I happily did. It was a bad idea for me to post songs, they were not central to the posts anyway. If you listened to and enjoyed the music, I ask that you consider supporting the fine artists who work hard at creating this music, and purchase their songs and cd’s! I’ll replace the song links with a handy link to amazon.com so you can purchase them yourself; makes a great gift too!

More tomorrow on the 100-mile epic noodles 2 noodles ride!