# You'll never be ready for anything that matters

In 2022, I was an alcoholic with a newborn baby and a startup, so I decided to
ride a bicycle from San Francisco to Los Angeles (877km or 545mi).

[^note]:
    AIDS/Lifecycle is a great charity
    ([donate](https://giving.aidslifecycle.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.event&eventID=891)),
    but it was insanely selfish of me to commit to something like this at the
    time. I am so grateful for Chelsea, who supports my ambitions and forgives
    my folly.

This decision defied logic. [Dad bod](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dad_bod)
claimed me long before the baby arrived. I knew nothing about cycling. I did not
own a bike.

But I had to change something -- no, I had to change _myself_. To become
somebody else, I decided to start living somebody else's life. I don't remember
how the bicycle got involved.

I wasn't ready to be sober, nor to be a father, nor to start a company, nor to
ride that bike.

[^note]:
    Seriously, I rode the first 100 miles with two flat tires because I assumed
    all tubes needed exactly 12 PSI.

You'll never be ready for such things. Do them anyway.