Autumn on the South Plains

Weekend trip to the bat cave, part of the Rails-to-Trails near Quitaque 

Mexico and Maryland seem like years ago. October is in its final third, and apart from one quick weekend get-away I have whiled away my time here in Lubbock since my return from the Riviera Maya. My daily routine has been the same for most days, a routine that definitely reeks of retirement: sleep until it's light enough to wake up, read the (digital) newspaper while having a cup of coffee and one chocolate chip cookie, go for my daily ride, get home two-and-a-half hours later, enjoy lunch, do a few chores around the house, think about what I will cook for dinner, fix and eat that dinner, do the dishes, watch yet another canned stage of the long-finished Vuelta (or maybe a movie), fall asleep in the Lazyboy, wake up with a stiff neck and somehow drag myself to bed well after midnight. And then the next day starts.

Saturday dinner with Beth

There are variations, of course, but that's pretty much my life when I am home. I have to say that after the action-packed last half year it has felt good to have an easy, predictable, quiet routine. But there are also those moments when I think that I really should be doing something. There are all those AA miles waiting to be burned, after all. There's an entire world beckoning for me to visit. 

Buddy Holly's grave and other sights from my daily ride

But instead I have been riding the same 36-mile route often enough to be Strava's Local Legend for several segments (i.e., I have ridden this particular segment more often in the past 90 days than anybody else). I enjoy baking my bread and cooking nice meals, but somehow I lack the drive to finally get started in earnest with my backyard project or clearing out the attic. Good intentions and plans are easily forgotten, and at the end of the day (or the week, or the month) the question looms: Where did the time go?

Well, fear not. Another trip is on the horizon, and it will entail the bike, Spanish, and wine. We are still enjoying gorgeous fall weather in Lubbock, but by the time that Halloween is here and more and more cold fronts hit us I will be somewhere south of the equator in hopes of experiencing yet another wine region. I am in the final preparations to determine the duration and logistics of the trip, which for some strange reason has not been easy this time around. Booking air travel with miles allows much flexibility, and I am about to cancel my original return flight and rebook a more suitable one.

A week from now I will be in the air, and I hope that by then some of the irrational worries and anxieties in regard to this trip will have dissipated. The Ritchey Outback is already packed, my itinerary has taken on a promising shape, and as an interesting surprise I will get to meet up with several commissaires whom I haven't seen in quite a long time—but this is not a race trip.

The good old Moots YBB finally was brought out of
hibernation for the Rails-to-Trails ride

All I need to do is put my mail on hold, let the municipal court know that I won't be available for jury duty, and maybe mow the weeds one last time before winter. Check back in a week or two to find out how the story continues.

Jürgen