ADVICE
"A little advice is always nice" or so the elephant said in that cartoon film strip we were shown in elementary school. On Friday before the weekend I was hanging with a co-worker and discussing my weekend dilema about Saturday's Bike race. In short, Lisa did not want me to go. I was going to go either way, again....Father (things he) Knows Best. Lew (pronounced Lou) got slightly metaphorical with a story and some sage advice. Lew is a slightly older gentlemen with the wisdom of years behind him. Lew told a quick little story of himself and his interests and his balance in life to try and give me an example of how to live life. Lew is a handgun target shooter. He competes, officiates, and helps out at the firing range/gun club. There are events all the time, nearly every weekend and then some. Lew tries to create a balance. In short, Lew tried to impress upon me that as much as he would like to attend each and every event he has to opt out of some events for the obvious reasons. It was a nice little parallel. His advice was clear and crisp. I was thankful for his candor and his ability to give advice through example rather than just telling me what I should do. I listened and I learned and went ahead and did this race anyway.
I do skip races.....I do blow off events....my family and my wife do get me on weekends....
This is one of the last races of the summer....I had not ridden on a weekend since the Snowshoe race and I felt that I needed a good ride before the SM100. So I went and raced anyway....
I live the same balance in my life that Lew does. There are days when a person needs to hold their ground....I understand and respect that lisa did not want me to race. But, I felt that I could meet all the requirments of the weekend even with Saturday's race.
In hindsight.....this time I was right. It all worked out!.