Ah, social distancing. It’s right up my alley. I can ride for hours all alone and know I am doing the right thing for my community.
Sadly, this pandemic didn’t happened while I was working. It would have put an end to the extroverts trying to push everyone into this meeting or that. Brainstorming get togethers? Not any more! Three-day office retreats. Fuggetaboutit! Teambuilding exercises. Pshaw!
I do feel like I’ve fallen into a creepy science fiction movie. Here I am riding along on the prairie when I stop for food. Is the clerk at the register infected? Do the old men sitting around the table at the truck stop carry the dangerous contagion? Will I get out of this gas station alive? AYYY!
I am one of the high risk folks. I have compromised lungs in three ways. I have mild persistent asthma. I have had a lung infection in the last five years. And let’s not forget those lovely pulmonary embolisms. Also, I am 64. Take me out to the ballgame? I think not.
Meanwhile, my stenosis pain is in rapid retreat. Lord knows why. I am scheduled to be treated for lower back pain next Monday but that pain, too, is gone. Do I even bother with the treatment? I even tested my lower back by riding Little Nellie, my wee wheeled Bike Friday, yesterday. Normally, this bike beats up my back. Today, no pain.
The only problem I am having is a sore left knee that woke me up at 7 this morning. I have lowered the saddle on all my bikes and I suspect this is the culprit.
My thoughts are with Gio and Cristina, the Italian bike tourists I met on the side of the road in Eureka, Nevada. They are back in Italy. Stay well.
As for the rest of you all, don’t panic. Exercise good hygiene. Bump elbows. This too shall pass.
A Few Spokes Shy of a Wheel 
I’m an introvert too so social distancing is no problem for me! Already got out of doing one presentation for work that I was dreading and luckily my hobbies (riding bikes) involve being in the woods far from people. Hoping for some work from home days to do even more of it in the coming weeks. Stay well!
I can’t tell you how many times people asked me “Don’t you get lonely?” about my solo bike tours. To the contrary, I love the solitude. Hang in there.