30 While 30: Day 244 – On motorcycles, novels, and races …

Hello all!

A few updates for you all.  I know that my “non-list” posting has slowed down, but I have promised myself not to start every post with “I know I haven’t been posting as much because” … oh wait … ah well, better luck next time.

1. I’m legal!  (Well almost)

If anyone reading is a follower on Facebook or twitter (my twitter handle is Thomsthoughts), you got a few messages from me about a week ago about my most recent list-item conquering:

#4 (Learn to ride a motorcycle.)

Done!  It took about 20 hours, but I finished.  I went from never having sat on a motorcycle (or dirtbike for that matter – I didn’t have the most adventeurous or risky childhood), to being able to pass the state riding and written test (with a 100% no less).  I only wrecked the bike once.

Yeah, you read that right.

It was actually not that bad.  Probably only my 6-7 time getting going, had the throttle up a little too high, and let the clutch go out a little too much.  That, and all my previous experience with motorized machines taught me that when in trouble, let go, and you’ll be ok …. well, not on a motorcycle.  The clutch popped, and the bike kept going.  I tried to stay on it for a bit, but balance was off and it went down.

I felt like a 2 year old.

Then the instructor came over and treated me like one.

And this wasn’t a bad thing.

You see, once it happened, he asked me if I was ok.  (answer was Yes, though I am sported a nice bump on my shin for about a week).  He then asked me what went wrong, and I was able to give an accurate answer.  He then had me pick up the bike, make sure it started, and get back in line.

As much as I try to avoid finding life lessons in random things … there it is again.  Don’t expect … when you are trying something new, that it is all daffodils and butterflies.  Sometimes the things that are hard, or are difficult, are the very things that we absolutely need to do.  I could have easily quit right then, but that wouldn’t have made for a very interesting point, or even more important … a highly uninteresting blog post.

2.  I have officially completed a race longer than I ever have before.

#6 (Run a 10k)

On the 5th, got a chance to run in the “Sango Scamper” in my hometown.  A local, and rather small race, but was a fundraiser for our local habitat for humanity.  The 10k started at 7am.  I started running in the dark, but got the joy of seeing the sunrise while on the course.

At about 3.4 miles (34 min) in, here was my view:

I was definitely not the first, and to be honest, I was not too ashamed of my time: 1:20:08.  Not only that, but I didn’t die, which is also a plus.

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More stuff tomorrow.  Suffice it to say, this month (November) I am writing more than I have all year, though much of it you all might not see until much later.  I’ll try to share as many glimpses as possible.