Title : Fearless Friday? Fretting Friday? Somewhere-in-Between Friday, With Kayak. . .
link : Fearless Friday? Fretting Friday? Somewhere-in-Between Friday, With Kayak. . .
Fearless Friday? Fretting Friday? Somewhere-in-Between Friday, With Kayak. . .
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I'm quite pleased that, given my nature and the childhood experiences that left me fearful of many physical endeavours, I am, at 66, quite fit and fairly active. I'm a fair-weather cyclist, enjoy swimming through the summer, run a bit, workout in the condo gym to a program a trainer develops for me, and now I'm kayaking again.
Just so you know, though. . . I fretted about carrying our paddles on the bikes -- they split in two, but are still unwieldy zipped and elastic-banded into our backpacks and what if they spilled onto the road and/or caused us to fall over or swerve into a car or. . . .
And I worried -- was really careful! -- about carrying the kayak to the water down a steep and very algae-slippery concrete ramp (I lifted the front of the kayak; he took up the stern). . .
And I was unhappy about the rudder pedals -- the tension is definitely off, so that the kayak tended to head to portside (veer left). I'd end up with my right leg fully extended and my left knee still folded, but I wasn't keen to do the necessary fiddling "under the hood" out in the water. Reminded me too much of the way I'd have to disappear below the dash to switch fuel tanks on my old VW Bug (anyone else have one and remember that feature?). I might have been driving blind for a few seconds in my VW, but at least we weren't likely to tip over into deep, cold water. . . .
Since I'm being honest, I'll also tell you that at several points there was focused crankiness about the fact that my worries were being dismissed as "Nervous Nellie" concerns or as those of an Anxious Beginner. We worked this through with some exasperation expressed on both sides -- I've since found that there's a bag specifically designed to carry the paddles; not only will it better protect them in transit, but it's less likely to spill its contents or unbalance a cyclist. (In his favour, I should admit that he's cycled those two kilometres with his paddle's handles protruding through the unzipped gap at the top of his backpack ever so many times now, incident free. To which, of course my Designated Inner Worrier retorts something like , "It only takes once, and he's using up his good luck.").
We also had a closer look at the rudder pedals once the boat was on dry land, and the tension is clearly uneven, and tends to revert to being uneven quite quickly after an adjustment. But I think I can adjust it with less fuss next outing, and perhaps the tension issue will work itself out once the kayak and I are used to each other. Of course, I can always set and maintain and correct direction with the paddles. . . but a good working rudder makes me feel safer and more confident. Which, since I'm not naturally a Badass Adventurer, is a good thing. . .
Besides my worries and hesitations and fears around bikes and kayaks and rudders and all, I had a number of other items to share with you and had thought of posting a Five Things Friday. Instead, I think I might break my resolution of only posting twice weekly (during the time-sucking online course I'm doing) and shower you with a few extras in the next little while. . .
Meanwhile, though, perhaps you'd care to share the behind-the-scenes complications of some recent effort of your own, some accomplishment that looked easy but posed a few hurdles. Not necessarily physical adventures -- sometimes, joining a new group or attending a concert on one's own can look easy but requires considerable talking-to one's mirror image. We could chat about whether you tend to the Nervous Nellie or the Badass Adventurer side -- or whether, like me, you begin to suspect they might occasionally co-exist, and even help balance each other. . . And mobility and scope of adventures in this middle-to-infinity stage of life, how's that working out?
As for me, I've almost finished my morning cuppa as I wrote, chatting with you in my head between paragraphs, and now I must gulp down the last ounce or two and hurry to put my Invisalign aligners back in.* Happy Friday!
*Ten days into this process now, and no pretending it's not uncomfortable at first, and the inconvenience of working the aligners out and in for each meal or any drink other than water (not hot!), flossing and brushing before replacing them after a meal. . . .But I'll focus on the outcome of straighter teeth, much easier to keep clean and healthy, and my good fortune in being able to budget for the treatment.
Thus articles Fearless Friday? Fretting Friday? Somewhere-in-Between Friday, With Kayak. . .
that is all articles Fearless Friday? Fretting Friday? Somewhere-in-Between Friday, With Kayak. . . This time, hopefully can provide benefits to you all. Okay, see you in another article post.
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