Back in the Saddle

This has been a tough spring for allergy sufferers like me to do a lot outside. Between the super-high pollen counts, rainy days, and nasty wind on the nice days, doing anything outside takes careful planning – and lucky timing.  

It took until late April for the weather to cooperate enough that my cycling friends and I could finally get back in the saddle for our first ride of the year on Columbia Trail (my favorite ride in this part of NJ) - https://www.traillink.com/trail/columbia-trail/. We planned the ride in advance and got lucky to get a rare, beautiful day without gale-force winds. After a few neighborhood rides between windy days and many rides in the shelter of my basement, it felt great to be out on the trail and with friends again.

There’s something relaxing and therapeutic about riding a bike off road on a rail trail (at least for me). The sound of the gravel under the tires, the scenery, the smells, and the fresh air set my mind at ease while I exercise my body. Being with good friends makes it even more fun, and grabbing a beer and a burger after is a nice reward. Hoping the weather cooperates so we can get in several more rides this spring and summer. So far, it’s still really windy on most nice days but at least the pollen is slowing – a bit.  

That same nasty wind has hindered my disc golf game as well. The days that were nice enough to practice with my discs at the nearby park or take a drive to one of our local courses came with the aforementioned gale-force winds. No fun throwing discs in high winds. For those of you who don’t know the sport, here’s link to Wikipedia’s page on it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disc_golf

As luck would have it, the same week I was able to get that first trail ride in, the weather cooperated again, and the discs finally came out of their bag. A couple of friends joined me at a local park to practice for a while since none of us had picked up our discs since the fall. One of them was new to the sport, having received a set of discs for Christmas. We spent an hour or so throwing discs for distance and accuracy to get familiar with them again. After a few throws the rust started to come off, and our newbie got the hang of throwing golf discs (much different than tossing a Frisbee) very quickly.

It was great to finally break out my discs, be with friends; and introducing one of them to the sport made it even better. A cold beer after, while we evaluated our throws and coached each other, was a perfect finish to the afternoon. The bonus was that I got both firsts in the same week!

Another couple of weeks of the same weather pattern dampened activity but a break over Memorial Day weekend allowed me to get to a nearby course for my first round of the year. Surprisingly I did pretty well. Now it’s time to practice putting, as just like regular golf, the short game is the toughest – and most important. A pub close to the course served as the 19th hole and supplied a couple of good IPAs and a snack just as that nasty wind started up again.

Getting back to two of my favorite activities and being out with friends has been energizing. Yes, it’s taken some planning while carefully watching extended weather forecasts, but that planning has paid off. Don’t let a few hurdles keep you from doing what you love. The reward for putting in the effort to overcome – or get around – them is well worth it.

www.RetiredandInspiredat55.com  06-02-2025