Some Days are made for Playing Hooky; The Best way I know to Burn a Sick Day
I have a bit of a problem, and before I even get into this, it’s a good problem to have… I give myself five sick days a year, on top of a couple weeks of vacation. The problem is, I don’t get sick often. It’s been two years since I burned a sick day because I was actually sick, so by and large my sick days go unused.
For the most part.
Every now and again, as a cyclist, I bump into a perfect day for a ride and the standard 16-17 mile evening ride won’t do. Yesterday was one of those days.
This past winter was ridiculous as weather goes. Last year I was able to log 400 outdoor miles between January and February. This year, a measly 183, and a third of those were in the last four days – in other words, we’ve been stuck inside for a long stretch.
Yesterday’s forecast called for mid 50’s (12 C), mostly sunny skies and a mild breeze. The mild breeze part was a little off but the sunshine and mild temperature bit was right on. We rode at 8:30 in the morning, call it 38 (3 C) and rising. My buddy Mike, my wife and I fought the wind for eighteen miles before letting it push us home. As one would expect, that eighteen miles into the wind wasn’t the greatest but the return trip was a blast.
The abundance of sun had taken the temp from just above freezing to 56° (13 C) in just an hour and, for the first time in four months I was warm on a bike ride. It was spectacular.
36 miles and some change, a little more than two hours, and a fantastic morning. It was so awesome I went into work after showering up. I was never very good at taking time off anyway.