The Trouble with Goals

I don’t like country music and I was never a fan of Garth Brooks, but word is he was pretty good at what he did. He sang, he played guitar and he sold millions of cds. He must have been doing something right and you have to appreciate that even if you can’t stand the music. It was in this spirit that I anted up ten bucks on my one day off in Nebraska to see the Americruise Hot Rod show at the Lincoln fair grounds last Sunday.

Since giving up the Falcon almost three years ago my interest in cars in general has actually diminished and though I am not interested in ever owning one there is something to a hot rod that I appreciate. Beyond all that chrome and steel which I find very distracting there is the effort, skill and passion that went into the build. This is what I appreciate. I don’t really care for the noise and some are just garish but when a hot rod is done right it is easy to recognize the skills and commitment which led to the final product. Who am I kidding? There is just something cool about building a shiny car that goes fast.


After the car show I headed back into down town for a coffee at the Mill coffeehouse in the Haymarket district before heading out for a ride. It was Sunday, the sun was shining, I had the day off and the alternative was to spend the day in a smokey motel room at a truck stop in rural Nebraska watching HBO.

The problem with setting goals for one’s self is there may be an expectation of actually meeting them. This was what I was faced with after riding two thirds of my planned ride on Sunday. I planned on riding 75 km to meet my goal of averaging 200 km/week on this trip. The problem with this was that after 50 km, which is no small accomplishment for a 210 lb man in 35 C heat, I still had 25 km to go. Crap. Enter the distance index (See Iowa Heat Index below). The distance index represents the distance a ride feels like. It is a formula whose variables include wind speed, air temperature, and actual distance. It is safe to assume that there are no know values to represent the distance index of the last 25 km of Sunday’s ride.

With wobbly legs and ribbons of salt on my jersey I made it back to the Mill for an iced coffee beverage, a healthy dose of conditioned air and a change of clothes. Thanks to the Mill for the fine coffee, cold air and the bathroom I use as a change room.