Mind-Altering States... of Mind

Back in Los Angeles. I didn't ride the bike today; I feel rather run over and bushed. I might or might not ride tomorrow, depending on how tired I am. For comfort's sake, I prefer to keep two feet on the ground until my head feels less foggy.

I did experience an increase in energy when my friends met me at the Flyaway, but after it had subsided I seriously contemplated staying in bed all afternoon. I'd have been perfectly content with that. Then I realized that perhaps indulging in a healthy dose of emerging sunlight would help cut through the muck. So I walked about two blocks to the corner market, on a mission to fill the frigidaire with foods corresponding with the rainbow-array diet I've grown accustomed to, and ultimately to put my body through the lifestyle-oriented detox it so desperately needs.

I so love vacationing with family, but it tends to result in ingesting copious amounts of mind-numbing, liver-hardening substances - and quite honestly, I never refuse. It's pretty much an annual faux-Rumspringa. Thankfully, one drink doesn't lead to five like it used to when I was younger; my limit is generally two. Still, I always feel like such crap afterward... goodness knows how many cups of black tea and electrolyte supplements it will take to balance my system. (However, I confess: I kind of dig the break-down and repair process. More on that in the not-so-distant future.)

If you haven't guessed, this is in some way related to cycling. Can you see where it's going?

(ahem) Let me drag you by the hand to the subject of drinking while riding one's bicycle and how I don't understand it. Like I'm some saint, though - on one party ride last year I was guilty of having one sip of the worst hard cranberry-lemonade leading to perhaps the most ill-gotten buzz, what with the impeding headache and awful taste in the mouth. All I can say is that alcohol can't possibly be worth the aforementioned unpleasantness or the screwing with overall operation and safety. Drinking and riding isn't as huge a problem in some circles as it is in others, but if I've said it once I've said it a million times: if you're going to advocate for the recognition of a known fact (read: that bicycles are vehicles) then you might not want to drink during the act. I'm looking at you, hipsters with your Pabst Blue Ribbon (I have to thank Bike Snob NYC for that one). A DWI and penalty fine's going to clash horribly with your red sneakers. Couple that with the alarming rate of people who go without their helmets, and you've a layered discussion that will bleed its way into a few posts.

It's all so exciting!