The Lost City of the Monkey God

22 Apr 2020

A gorgeous day was a cue that simply could not be ignored.

The muscles were sore but the spirits were high. I decided to skip the steep ride up to Anderson Dam. I also decided to listen to my body and shorten the ride as necessary.

Today I tried a change in my listening habit based on good counsel from Jayaram. I completely removed my earphone whenever I was on the road. I put it on only when I was on dedicated bike trails. I used the silence time on the road to reflect on the recent audiobook Atomic Habits by James Clear.

Some highlights:

• Benefits of habits compound & hence dramatic
• Cue, Craving, Habit action & Reward are 4 aspects
• Rewards create craving.
• Creating good habits require grooming all 4 aspects
• For each aspect the grooming can be self, environment or social.
• Habits & Identity are mutually reinforcing
• Habit stacking is powerful
• Symbiotic relationship between habits & boredom
• Stopping bad habits is essentially disrupting the 4 aspects.

I’ll save a full discussion of Atomic Habits for a different day. Thx again to Suku, Bala & Ramach for reco.

Saw a bunch of bird nests at the ceiling of a pillar supporting a highway. For a second, my fevered covid imagination imagined they were Wuhan bats!

Upon recommendation from Jagdish, I started to listen to the audiobook The Lost City of the Monkey God by Douglas Preston. I was so excited it was immediately available to rent from the library. Thx again to Naren who got me into audiobooks during my bike rides. I also listened to joyous Rieu & NPR.

I ventured into new territory when I reached the Southern end (mile zero) of the Coyote Creek Trail. I rode on Cochrane Road past 101 to Monterey Road. There were good dedicated bike lanes most of the way.

Got quite thirsty and tired towards the end. The water fountains were closed at the Ranger Stations. The restrooms were open. I found a water fountain along the trail that was handy.

Dunch back home was super yummy. Rasam+oatmeal (yes, pandemic times, you know! Time to try unprecedented things!), Beans Paruppu Usili, Fage Curd Rice+ pickles, with spicy sev sprinkles.

Good ride on a great day. Exciting new book.

🙏🏾

Ranga

PS: Deliberately leaving last names out to protect the innocent! 😀