Bodhi Bum

Anyways, so it being Friday and the weekend and all.  And me having recently morphed into a slightly lardy couch potato.  I decided to follow through on my decision to purchase a mountain bike, after having carefully checked out all the shops around Abu Dhabi over the past two weeks. So I ended up opting for the second cheapest model in the 'real' pro bike shop.  Which was still on average with all the other shops, but it was much more of a bike for the price.  Figured it was a good compromise on price and performance.  And looks good to boot.

I didn't go for all the bells and whistles the guy tried to force on me.  Who the hell needs a bike fanny pack, or an emergency tire pump.  Hopefully I won't need to find out.  I did get a pair of biking gloves, the water holder, and a lock.  All mandatory.

So this morning I was up not so nice and early, as planned.  But still early enough that I was out on the open road before noon.  I wanted to head out from my place before all the mosques got out around 2pm.  Friday is the holy day for Muslims, and for expats here it's the day to get out on the streets since they are empty until mid afternoon.  

The plan was to head from my place over to the far east side of Abu Dhabi island, then up along the quietest road in the city straight up to the Emirates Palace Hotel, then around to the Open Beach.  Spend a few hours in the sun on the beach reading.  Then bike over to Marina Mall for a coffee and a paper.  Then bike around my private bike path along the ocean that I discovered a few weeks back.  Then back south back to my place.  All in all, according to Google Earth, I was looking at a 29km ride.  A bit ambitious I figured, but doable in a couple hours in the afternoon.

So here I am back, safely at home.  And my first biking expedition under my belt.  No worse for wear, except for the fact that i underestimated the strength of the winter sun here, and I'm more than slightly burnt.  I can feel my face and arms getting redder and hotter as I type this.  I guess a winter sun, even in 25 degree weather which is perfect for biking, is still hot enough to burn a ginger like me.  Gotta remember the sun block next time.

So overall, it was a good purchase and I'll get a ton of use out of my new toy.  Gotta do something to stay active and outdoors in this, frankly, boring Muslim country.  The problem with this place is that there is not a whole lot to do.  No history, no museums, no culture, no exciting nightlife.  Just shopping malls.  So my bike will keep me sane, and fit all at the same time.  Good return on investment, I would say.

It's days like this where I find myself missing my home in Thailand the most.  The days where you don't have work to fill up your time and mind.  And you find yourself alone in a country that is so foreign, and everyone just seems to be struggling to survive and make a buck.  And thoughts fly to my place back in Thailand, sitting empty and unused, awaiting my return someday.  And I can't help but get more than a little melancholy and lonely, and wonder at this life I've made for myself.  Of temporary isolation and deprivation, so that one day sooner, rather than later, I can live the life I desperately want in a place I desperately love.  So in the meantime fill my time with Friday afternoon bike rides and Sunday afternoon work.  So that I can someday fill up my Friday afternoon with cruising the back roads of Isaan on my motorbike, and Sunday afternoons lying on a golden Thai beach reminiscing about days of mindless work now long in the past and banished to memory.

How I long for those days.  But they are not now.  They are in a future I'm working hard to make real.  But what is real today is a new bike, and a means to pass the time.  Waiting.

Bodhi