"Someday, I'll Ride My Bike Again"
A brief post, a catch-up, a preview, and some NEWS!
I hadn’t ridden my bike since fall of 2024, the last season that I coached cross country before retiring. Taking it out of the track shed and putting it in my car to take home forever was so depressing, I kept putting it off. I finally did it the day before the last day of school, or to use a track term, the penultimate day. I went in during final exams, so it was quiet and the whole stadium was empty. I’d just removed my name from my locker, so I couldn’t get much more sad.
After that, the bike sat in my shed until the end of last summer, when I thought I might want to bring it inside to put on the trainer for the winter. So I got it tuned up, brought it in, and got on it for no more than 25 minutes the entire winter, no more than 5 minutes at one time. What a waste of space! Back to the shed it went, about a month ago, and I wondered how long it would be until the weather broke.
The last few days have been amazing, and I managed to get outside for Earth Day, walking at my favorite forest preserve with a dear friend. Yesterday was another gorgeous day and I felt the pull to get back outside, but my Achilles was a little too tender for a long walk, then I remembered that I have a bike!
All I can say is DAMN, WHY DID THAT TAKE ME SO LONG??? In the true spirit of The Someday Times, someday I’m going to delve into the whole psychology of this, at length. Which brings me to the next reason for this post…
So Many Ideas!
I have more ideas of things to write about than I do time to write them all, which is a great problem to have, but I wanted to let you in on a few things, especially because there are so many new subscribers.
Hi, New Subscribers!
There are a lot of you, and I wanted to say a special thanks for being here.
A lot of people found me recently thanks to this note:
I never expected the amount of attention this got, and certainly not the amount of time I’d spend responding and replying to every single person that commented. I’m thankful for the many people that saw this and made their mammogram appointment, or reminded someone else, and especially for all those who shared their personal connections with cancer and said such sweet things to me.
It took a lot of time away from my writing, though, and pushed my timeline of posts back. This is not a complaint, if you’re wondering! Another thing I’ve spent time on recently is attending writing workshops and groups on Zoom, to improve various aspects of my craft. I’m going to write a round-up of these someday soon, including the multi-part Writer’s Digest workshop that took up most of last weekend. I’m also working on a new piece for my own writing workshop, which has been a fickle bitch, leading me all over the place.
Connecting and interacting with so many more of you Substackers, these workshops, and all of these new ideas are so inspiring, I only wish I had more time to read all of your work, and to write all of my ideas. But it’s suddenly SO NICE OUTSIDE! I’d wanted to publish a post on Earth Day, since it’s about gardening, but couldn’t resist the pull to get outside and away from this laptop. Walking in the woods with my friend was worth not getting my post out “on time.” Then, yesterday morning, it was so beautiful that I had the idea to go on a bike ride. So I did, and it was so amazing that I enjoyed the weather and stayed away from my laptop for another day.
So, if you’re keeping score, posts are upcoming about planting a garden, more on the psychology of the someday mindset, and a round-up of writing workshops I’ve attended so far in 2026. I also tried watercolor recently, so I’m sure to have a lot to say about that soon. Spring Cleaning, Part Three is on the horizon as well, and more ideas keep blooming all the time. You can read Spring Cleaning, Part One HERE and Part Two HERE. They include lots of helpful links for getting rid of things.
Speaking of writing workshops and ideas…
A SOMEDAY TIMES NEWSFLASH:
I’m going to start leading 90-minute generative writing workshops on Zoom in June. They’ll be for my paid subscribers, with a pathway for free subscribers to attend, and also a sale! All levels of writers are welcome. The first workshop will be on Hermit Crab Essays. If you’ve never heard of them, more reason to attend!
Stay tuned for more information on this next month!
That’s it for now. What did you do recently that you waited way too long to do? What’s on the horizon for you? What are you excited about that’s coming up soon? Tell me about a time you let go of expectations to enjoy the moment.
Lovely reflections Lisa!! Love hearing all the myriad things you’re up to (being in nature, biking, water color, gardening, spring cleaning) and balancing doing the things and writing about the things!! And wow, an upcoming workshop!? Count me in! You go Gemini girly!