Philosophy 101

I know this is a blog about our training and bike tour down the California coast, but as I was thinking about this entry I realized that life is all about the choices we make and I thought I would ramble a little about the choices I was faced with today.

First, I left work early today for an appointment with my endodontist to follow up on my root canal done last summer. While there I asked him about this other tooth that had had a root canal over 4 years ago and still causes me pain, especially when riding my bike on particularly bumpy roads. Apparently I have three choices: exploratory surgery to see if they can find the source of the problem, remove the tooth and have an implant put in, or live with the pain. For now, I guess I will just live with it.

As I headed home from appointment I was planning on getting on my bike and going for a nice long ride since I had a few hours of daylight left. However, when I sat on the couch and Li'l Bit jumped on my lap, I realized I could spend some "quality time" with Bit while she is still around, or ride my bike. So, we took a nap :)

When I woke up I was faced with another choice. Get out on the bike for a ride before dark or start working on my abstract for a meeting that is due next week. I guess another option would have been to roll over and go back to sleep but I excluded that immediately. I went for the lesser of two evils and headed out for a ride.

The ride was pretty mellow and the weather was perfect. I rode to Shoreline Park, up to the Palo Alto Baylands, and back. I saw lots of red-winged blackbirds, ducks, herons, and other shore birds. Then it got dark and I had to use my lights, safety first :) Here are the stats: 20 miles over 1 hour 30 minutes, average speed 13.4 mph, max 22.4. Not bad, that is probably the fastest average I have ever had. However, I must reveal the rest of the stats (it was a very flat ride!) trip altitude +185, -95, max -42 (not sure what that actually represents) and total climb to date 3118. Also, maximum grade +4%, average 0.

Finally, after returning home I was faced with the choice of blogging or working on the abstract (the pesky thing just won't write itself). Obviously, I decided to blog because Joyce complains when we don't blog enough :) Then my blogging got delayed due to a phone call and before I knew it my evening had turned into night.

It is 11 PM and I have clinic in the morning. I could go to bed or work on the abstract. Can you guess what my next choice will be?