installation troubles + false beliefs

A few weeks ago, a date cancelled plans on me because it was raining outside. 

All to say. I was perplexed. If you can’t picnic outside because it’s raining, get creative! I had offered some suggestions, but they seemed not interested in embracing a pivot, so instead I went to a friend’s house and harvested carrots and herbs and we made dinner.

I’m the kind of person, who might be bummed if it's storming, when I had envisioned a blue sky day, but I try to live by the motto, “there’s no bad weather, just the wrong clothing.” 

AND I believe in the power of pivoting. 

So at the end of last month, when it was sweltering hot, I took my workouts indoors. 

Exiting my house meant greeting a wall of humidity and I was starting to tell myself it was “too hot to bike outside.” 

This story continued for a few days, until 8 days ago, when life gave me a little reality check. I had a deadline! I needed to install a bike rack on my new(ish) bike, before hitting up the Greenbrier River Trail for an adventure with a friend this past weekend (can’t wait to tell you more in a future newsletter how this bikepacking trip went!). 

I had ordered the rack from REI and a few days after it arrived, I watched a few Youtube videos on how to install it and went down to my bike corral to install the rack. 

And yet, as I tried to install it, it wouldn’t fit over the tube sections, as I needed it to. I returned to the sage advice on the internet, but couldn’t find a solution. I tried rotating the rack around my back gears. Nothing was working.

So, I called my local bike shop, Happy Go. They had suggested this very rack, when they had custom built my bike back in December, and so I was perplexed as to why the rack wasn’t fitting. 

They encouraged me to come in, but they were closing in less than 70 minutes and I knew this couldn’t wait. They are closed on Mondays and if a new rack needed to be ordered, I needed to do that ASAP. 

Time was of the essence and to load my bike on my car would be an ordeal (why, oh why did I order a roof rack?? When in fact I can’t load my bike inside my garage because of low clearance) …. so I grabbed my helmet, bungee corded my rack to my backpack and headed to the bike shop. 

I was going to ride in the heat.

I was preparing to dread the heat, but as I rode, I realized that I wasn’t that hot…. BECAUSE WHEN YOU ARE MOVING ON A BICYCLE, THERE’S A BIT OF AIR MOVING AROUND YOU and there was a slight breeze… So, as I moved along the avenue, I wasn’t hot, I was just sweaty, but the sweat was cooling me down. 

I got to the bike shop with about 40 minutes to spare, and I was told to stretch the rack (ooohhh, permission to manipulate the metal!) and within 45 minutes, after many struggling moments with washers falling down and some brief help from the shop and their power drills, the rack was installed. 

I rode home victorious, along a less busy road with more shade and was quite delighted. I had an installed rack.

And I discovered that perhaps despite it being hot out, despite having walked for 20 minutes earlier that day with an umbrella to protect me from the sun and heat, I actually felt cooler moving via bicycle. So much for the story I was telling myself! 

It’s important to be safe with the heat, but I also, thanks to a little bump in the (metaphorical) road, discovered that my hypothesis of “it was too hot to bike” wasn't universally true. 

• It was totally safe to bike for 15 minutes from my apartment to a bike shop pumping with AC.

• It was totally safe to bike along a road with tree lined streets.

• It was totally safe for me to bike in upper 80s temperatures at 4pm with sunscreen on and sunglasses. 

Some beliefs, some “truths” in life need to be modified. The core concept of the belief might be trying to keep you safe, but in fact you might need to add some caveats, some modifications, some big time exceptions with *** sparkly asterisks ***.

This was one small thing that I shifted gears on— realizing that I can ride my bike when it’s hot outside, happened out of necessity. I had a deadline and I had to get to the bikeshop and the best way to do that was on my bike. As I rode, I discovered I had made myself believe a false truth.

If you simmered about your life and said, “What am I limiting myself by because of a truth that might not always be universally true?”, I’m curious what you might disocver.

Perhaps, you, like me, might discover some freedom to hop back in the saddle and reclaim that territory you have held yourself back from entering. 

Wheels up, 

Ellen

PS: Have you been telling yourself some false truth for why you shouldn’t join for our retreat Pedal, Paddle and Pause this month?

Take a breathe and ask: why might I be limiting myself? Is it because you won’t know who else is joining and are afraid, you won’t vibe with the other women? Is it because you don’t know if you can handle the biking or rafting? Is it because you have never camped?

I invite you to shift gears with me. By extending yourself and signing up for this retreat, you’ll join a beautiful community of outdoorsy, intergenerational gals (yes gals in their 20s-50s currently are signed up), you’ll discover a sparkly asterisk next to a false belief and ride way with new found strength, friendship, community.

I hope you’ll join me!

Pedal, Paddle and Pause is July 18-20th in Ohiopyle, Pennsylvania.