The List of Possibilities

Every season a new list goes up on the refrigerator.

No, not a list of chores, or what to plant in the garden.

It's The List of Possibilities.

I threw away the summer list a couple weeks ago, and the fridge door sure seems bare.

The summer list was jam packed with rides, races, and events of the last few months. The three Florida XTerra's were on it. The Richmond XTerra and the Lake Placid XTerra were there. The Wickham Park Marathon, a Lake Okeechobee night ride, a road trip to Maine, and a week in Colorado were on it too.

The List is not a commitment, it's a guideline.  There's no way to do it all, but it's good to have the choices at hand.

Since I am in charge of the List, and I am forgetful, the List is also a timeline.

I got tired of saying things like, "Oh crap. That tri I wanted to do was last weekend!"

How does one forget a triathlon or a century ride?  I don't know, but it happens to me.  

One year, I forgot to go to the Eye of the Dragon.  

And once I stayed an extra day in Atlanta thinking I had a trip to fly, and missed a Pineapple Man.  

I am the sort to set my water bottle on top of the car and drive away, forget to leave a key for the Critter Sitter, and leave the front wheel of my bike home in the carport. 

At least I haven't left the entire bike home in the carport. Yet.  It would ruin the ride either way - just way more embarrassing.

Today the forecast for open windows goes clear into next week. The AC is off, the fans are on, and October is firmly entrenched. When you live to be outdoors, the change of seasons becomes the main event.

And so the Fall List is under construction.

A weekly sub-structure usually evolves over the first few weeks.

Basic fitness, a readiness for anything, is the goal.  If, for instance, someone says, "Hey, want to do an adventure race this weekend?" it's essential to be able to say "Sure!" without hesitation.  So the gym, weight training, night rides all get penciled in until they become the new routine.

And layered over the basics is The List of Possibilities.

First up on the new List is getting your ducks in a row for the stuff that can't be left to a last minute decision.

Like San Felasco.

Friday, October 1, 0555.  Trusty the Timex erupts, bleeping and blinking in the dark on the nightstand.

6am.  I stagger to the computer.  Me, and every other Friend of San Felasco.  

There are enough of us to crash the site in the scramble to be among the first four hundred to register for the January 50 miler.

The popularity of this ride is crazy. What's even crazier is that terrain and distance aren't that much of a challenge at the Tour de Felasco. The real challenge, for a bunch of Floridians, is figuring out how to avoid hypothermia.

OK, so the first event on the List was to register for the last event on the List.  We have our parameters.

Now, for the fun of filling in the spaces in between.

Possibilities for October round out the list nicely, especially if you're a roadie.

(Uh oh, overlap already!)  

Oct 8,9,10    Mt Dora Cycling Festival

Oct 9  Croom 50k (something to strive for next year...)
Oct 10    Ride 4 aBreast.  

Oct 23   The Tour de KSC - another ride where advance commitment (and tee-shirt size) is required.

Oct 23    So, we will miss the Santa Fe Century...

Oct 24    …but could still make the Horsefarm Hundred.

Oct 31    Intracoastal Waterway Century. 


Nov 21    Horrible Hundred  (West Orange Trail for me.)

The rest of the season has lots of slots. There's plenty of time yet to see what else comes up.  More mountain biking, for sure.

2011 is bare bones.

January: San Felasco 50.

February: Croom 50.

March: Full Moon Hash???  And a new list.

Somewhere in there, I will stubbornly pencil in Lake O again, and a vacation outside of Florida, although it's too late now for Maine or Colorado. Waking up to snow on my non-down sleeping bag is not on the list.

But what I really want to know is...

What's on your List?  

Because, you know.  Maybe it needs to be on my list too.

The Possibilities are endless!  

We need to be ready for anything!

Well, anything but snow camping.