Ah, the Difference a Cold Makes

A week ago Monday (that would be November 10th) I caught a cold. I don't catch very many of them and I think it's because no one likes me and therefore I have very little human contact. Go ahead and avoid me, all you cool hip people that hang around other cool hip people - all that means to me is I don't get your diseases. Anyway, somehow a cold germ got to me - and it's been a week-and-a-half of feeling weak, coughing, sneezing, making excuses for myself and self-pity. That all sounds pretty good on its own. But add to that I can't ride my bike when I have a cold, and the joy of the sneeze turns into the - well, the un-joy of not riding.

When I was younger, I could ride through colds. I read in Bicycling Magazine that people with colds could continue to "train" (that's what Bicycling Mag calls it - "training" - you don't get to just go "ride") as long as they didn't have a fever. So, I would just keep riding.

But these days, if I try to ride during a cold, I effectively double the length of time I have the cold. This started happening when I was in my early 50s. So now, at 61+, I can only stare longingly at my bike sitting rusting and alone in the garage.

This is why I'm mean to people.

I don't actually hate people, but I have a purpose in being creatively mean. And that is to stay away from the dreaded cold germs.

"Wow, that diet you've been on really isn't working, is it?"

"You know you'd look a lot better without all that clown paint on your face"

 "I think you accidentally gave us the dog's food."

You get the point. When people come to my house to visit me and the wife, they hug and kiss on her and leave me alone in my easy chair and sheepishly wave at me. They think I don't like them, but I really do. I just don't want their dad burned cold germs.

I'm probably going to start riding again on Monday, December 1st.