self-imposed adversity

these words kept creeping into my mind yesterday as i rode along. i began to wonder what kind of a person would: wake up at 6 a.m., put on tight cold-weather clothing, eat breakfast standing up in a motel parking lot, start riding with a 15-20-mile-an-hour headwind, ride up hills that force slobber out of my mouth, ride down hills that would kill me if i lost control of my bike, use a cue sheet that has errors on it, not know where those errors are, take the wrong turn, go to a farmhouse asking for directions, get on the right road, play dodge-em with 18-wheelers, eat lunch in a cute cafe, continue in the wind until my mind is shot, stop in a tavern for a coke to get some quick energy for the rest of the trip, ride into the wind for 10 more miles, see a turn-off to the "field of dreams", discover a spoke broke on my left rear tire so i can't see the field, decide to limp on into town, see the sag wagon, pack my bike onto it because it is unrideable, get to the motel, eat pizza for dinner in the parking lot of the motel, get into a van to go see the basilica of dyersville, iowa, enter into the basilica to the refrain of the "lord's prayer", sit in the pew and thank god for life, health, and safety, go back to the motel, walk next door for an after-dinner rhubarb crust a la mode, go to my motel room and find my room-mate asleep, take a shower, and drop exhausted into bed at 9:15 p.m., so i'd be ready to ride sixty more miles today.

now that's self-imposed adversity.