Since my last post, which was 118 days ago, I retired. Yes, I took the leap off the ledge of employment and plunged into the unknown. Forty, that’s a 4 and a 0, years of working, add more for working while in high school. There’s a lot of planning, of course, and I had been steering in the general direction of retirement or as I call it, graduation, since lockdown. It’s all theoretical, vague and abstract until you meet with people who have access to your employment history and you realize you can get off the treadmill and move on to what you want to do. When you get serious about it then you can only see the possibilities of the unknown and it’s weirdly very exciting, like a detour on a bike route you’ve been on for years. If I go literary on you, it’s like opening the door to Narnia. There’s something beautiful about time spread out in front of you like the horizon and all you have to do is think about the path you want to try. Or you can read another chapter of your book and settle in with a coffee refill.

What’s it like? Liberating! Free! Like the wind on my back. I look at my watch at various times of the day and think, “Wow, if I was working, I’d still be at work.” From the time I turned 15, I have been working. My career as a teacher-librarian, while rich, interesting and stimulating is now replaced by volunteer endeavors at both my local library and nonprofit bike shop are rewarding and interesting. Spontaneously considering options that before retirement you’d talk yourself into NOT doing because there wasn’t time.

My e-bike which I love is less important only because I don’t have to be faster to get to work in a hurry. I don’t commute, I can just ride wherever, whenever and that’s liberating as well. I did splurge on a Garmin Edge and an annual subscription to Ride With GPS to do some route planning and have turn-by-turn directions for new route-tines and new places to bike.

For example, I have missed writing in my blog for the last 118 days. Working wears you out. You have little energy left to do anything but go to sleep and get ready for the next day of work. I was lucky and I’m very grateful for my career and the people along the way who believed in me, but now… retirement, wow, it’s mind-blowing. There is space in my brain to consider other callings. It reminds me of those few months after you graduate from high school and everyone wants to know what you plan on doing next. I plan on doing whatever my heart desires, within reason of course, but you know I’ve been leaning into new routines. After 40 years of planning nearly every second of my working days, I’m happy to flow the go, (go with the flow) and just be open to seeing the leaves turn and relax.

As with graduation, people always seem to have ideas about what you should do—or, more importantly, what they would do—if they didn’t have to work. For me, there’s never been a September where I wasn’t busy with something. You squeeze time out of weekends to ride a bike, go for a walk, or sit with a book, but now… Now I can while away the hours however I choose, in whatever way befits my mood. I literally can ride my bike on routes I’ve passed hundreds of times without a second thought.

I’m not of avian persuasion, but there’s something liberating about this newfound flight of my own fancy. No longer tethered to schedules or deadlines, I can aspire to other activities. I can soar through the day on my own terms. Whether it’s coasting along on the bike path or getting lost in the pages of a book, every moment feels like a breeze—unrushed, untethered, unbound.

There’s a variety of jokes about retirement and cyclists, but I like this one the most.

What do you call a retired cyclist who still rides every day?
A wheel-y dedicated retiree!

I hope that’s me. Now, I gotta get out there and ride.

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