While I may be never able to reach my goal of figuring out a way to ride and play the bass, having goals of a more attainable nature has been paying off. I can't make all my climbs in the big ring, can't trackstand, can't play the 4th movement of Beethoven 9 cleanly yet, but I'm getting there. I ride a higher gearing everyday, ride better lines that let me stay clipped in the whole time, and I'm getting better at the bass. On top of all of that, I am losing weight, eating less so that I don't lose it on these rides, and just feel better overall. The same is coming true on the bass. I'm playing a lot more everyday that I had in other years and I can feel it. I can concentrate longer on detailed, organized practice opposed to my usual scatterbrained whirlwind sessions of play mixed and matched things for about an hour and then go watch videos on the internet for three times as long.
I'm not going to be playing Paganini Caprices or heading up Mont Ventoux any time soon, but if I keep my eyes toward that lonely summit and my feet on the ground, good things will continue to happen.
As I changed my tires last night using the back of my SUV as a workstand, I realized that things are changing. It's a real shame that my car just sits there for days on end, a monument to a lifestyle I'm earnestly trying to leave behind. I find it a pleasant sight pulling into school and finding no space on the railing where we all lock up. Fixies, comfort bikes, mountain bikes and road bikes all call that spot home for the day, and it really is. Hanging out around the railing has become commonplace and provides a nice escape from the drudgery of long rehearsals or frustrating hours in the practice room. Sure, the railing will thin out with the falling leaves and become barren in the dead of winter (not if I have anything to say about it), but the promise of a new riding season keeps the camaraderie that surrounds that column of welds and steel alive.
Ryan
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