Be educated.
As I prep for RAGBRAI, I look back on all the years of education of what I should bring, how I should train and what I should wear, and every year my list gets more honed and better. One thing I’ve learned is that if I pack my daily riding gear, meds, bandanas, gloves, etc. in a two-gallon bag and label it for the day I wear it - then that cuts down on the amount of time I need to prepare in the morning before the ride. Janel used to tell me (in the first year or so) that she liked to leave really early (at dawn) to avoid crowds, afternoon heat, and wind. I told her, “That’s much too early,” but I learned quickly that she was correct. July afternoons are hot and windy, and the RAGBRAI “partying” crowd likes this time of day. I learned that getting your rear-end in riding shape so it doesn’t hurt so much is really important. And I learned that you don’t wear underwear with biking shorts. (See me if you want to know why.)
Education and learning aren’t just for youngsters. We can, and do, learn our entire lives. Artificial intelligence (AI) will be impacting and affecting us in so many different ways over the next 5-10 years … and that makes my head spin. That new ChatGPT AI application that basically writes papers, scripts, letters (etc.) will revolutionize all writing. At a clinic meeting this morning, the providers were saying when they used to write papers for classes, they had to research in libraries and encyclopedias. I said I bet the day will come soon when kids will have to write papers in the classroom without access to phones or computers in the old blue book and in cursive. (Future sympathies by the clinic providers were given to the teachers who are going to have to read the handwritten papers.)
So, we will have to evolve. We’ll have to learn to adjust. We will have to learn to embrace and be comfortable with change.* If we don’t want to continue to learn, basically we will be wearing underwear with our bike shorts for the rest of our lives. (Seriously, don’t go there!)
*My friend Cheryl drives a Tesla and said, “I can’t imagine driving without all the gadgets - how did we do this without a backup camera?” One of the first cars I drove - the 2 door 1970 Chevy Biscayne had nothing - no a/c, no power steering, nothing extra except for a cigarette lighter. I’m not sure I’m a better driver with all of my car gadgets now.
