Friday, March 12, 2010

PASSIONATE ABOUT BEING A DOCTOR AND A CYCLIST

I will probably often refer to my husband's obsession with and dedication to his bike, so I think I need to provide you with a brief history.

My husband's bike resides in our bedroom. It receives top-notch treatment. One time, while traveling in our Oddy (minivan) with his bike secured on top, it started to rain. He quickly stopped and transfered the bike INSIDE the Oddy. Our three children were already pretty squished with extra bedding, books, suitcases, shoes, etc., so parts of the bike were pushing up against them. I suggested that we leave the bike on the roof; my husband said, "That would be like leaving one of the children on the roof when it starts raining."After a lengthy pause while he situated the bike, my husband began driving again. He immediately asked, "How is she doing?" Our oldest son asked, "Who?" And my husband said, "Your sister. The bike is like your other sister. You have to protect her and be very careful not to touch her, and tell me if anyone touches her." Obviously, this created a lot of havoc because they couldn't help touching the bike. The remainder of the stressful trip consisted of shouts of "He's touching her!" and "Move your foot!" or "Stop kicking it!" and "It's bothering me!" while my husband drove faster and faster while trying to hold the bike up so that it did not lean too close to our 1-year old, (who loved the wires near the handlebar), and keeping one hand on the steering wheel.

Anyways, this obsession is okay with me. I am actually almost grateful for this obsession. My husband, as I've mentioned, is intense and loves a challenge. This combined with the fact that he chose a career in medicine and so endures high levels of constant stress, calls for a physically-demanding outlet. His rides are usually a minimum of 2-3 hours long, (plus, I usually tack on at least two hours to whatever time he tells me he will be home, which is more accurate almost every time). During one race he biked 213 miles in one day.

Without his love of biking, I would venture to say that he would not be as happy. He says that without it, he would definitely be "depressed," and would probably be a "boring" person and "just watch t.v." during his spare time. Some people ask me why I let him get away with such a time-consuming and expensive hobby, (we have a specific biking fund for him in our budget that we add a little bit to each month); but, honestly, if he did not have this outlet, ALL of his attention (intensity, stress, etc.) would be focused on me (and the kids) at the end of the day.

And that would not be fun.

Some friends of ours said that during their years in residency, they had a sign near the front door that read: "Yell at the cat." I think physicians, especially during their years of intense training, hold in huge amounts of stress and anxiety during their shifts at the hospital. All of that energy needs to be focused and directed somewhere.

So, I am fully aware that my husband deeply loves and is devoted to his bike, but I'm not jealous at all. I love that he loves to bike and fully support him in all that it encompasses. And I don't mind one bit if he takes a large portion of his only day off during the week to go on a long ride. He is a lot happier - which, in turn, makes my life a lot easier.

2 comments:

Jeff and ReAnn said...

You are a better woman than I.

Christensen Family said...

Okay! That was hilarious. I'm glad he has an outlet for the stress. We all need that don't we? Blake is also obsessed with his bike - just the one with a motor on it. ;) Jared has inspired him to ride a bicycle though and do the Logan to Jackson ride! We'll see if it happens but that is what he wants to do now.