It’s a down week. I have to stay close to home and a computer since I need to be reachable in the event something goes wrong at work. (Or is it “with” work instead of “at”, since there’s no real sense of “at” in these pandemic days?)

Being on call makes it a down week since I can’t head out on the bike for my early morning rides. My sore knee is happy with this, although part of me is scheming about trying out running, since that would keep me close enough to home. My knee will be displeased.

I’m sitting next to that same open window and the fresh cool air blows in every few minutes. I want to feel it on my face and through the cooling fins on my bike helmet. I want to be dodging cars and grates and potholes. A half-mile run around the neighborhood would be a poor substitute, and I hate running. I haven’t run since I left the Army three decades ago.

But I’m considering it.

I’m reading a book about bicycling riding and training for races. I don’t plan on racing, but the only serious books about cycling and health are targeted toward racers. There’s a chapter on the risk/reward benefits of training. It opens with a warning about over training and the athletes who “crave the boost” of dopamine and endorphins when they train.

My down week is trying to teach me something. Will I learn?

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