I’m combining my last two races into one entry here because neither of them merit a full journal entry of their own. I realize that telling you that I’m bored by the topic I’m writing about is a terrifically poor topic sentence strategy, but in this case, that facts are undeniable.

Sometimes bike races can be boring—even if you are taking part in them.

There, I said it. Due to tactical circumstances, my last two races were almost completely un-stimulating in the traditional sense. Sunday morning, I raced the CRCA masters race in Central Park, and after a few attacks from our Rockstar team, teammate Pascal got into a break, and the rest of the day was spent covering moves and dashing the hopes and dreams of the elderly. We raced really well as a team, but the experience was by no means a thrilling one. I guess it was nice to get out of the house, but if I had my choice, I wouldn’t get up at 4 am to get some fresh air.

Tuesday night at FBF was more of the same, teammate James got into the break, and we covered moves (although we I missed the second break, because those guys were really fast) until the race was over. James had a mechanical issue, and ended up last in the break.

There you have it. Two races, nothing learned, no inspiration found, no e-word sonnets to be composed about daring, strategy or monumental efforts. Just plain old bike racing. And there’s nothing wrong with that. This may come as a surprise to those who have read my typing before, but I do not confuse my bike activities with any sort of spiritual or mystical journey. I’m just out there having fun (which can even happen when you’re bored by a bike race). I don’t expect anything more than a good time from doing bike things. Of course, there are moments of satisfaction and warmth, but I also feel these things when I am engaged in other pursuits that I enjoy. My bike stuff isn’t any more special than my other stuff, I just wear much tighter clothes when I do the bike stuff.

I had some good old fashioned boring bike fun for a few hours in the past week, and sometimes if that’s all you expect maybe that becomes a spiritual event.