Lost Data

About 4 days ago, my hard drive broke on my less than 3 years old Macintosh MacBook. It started to make these sad, clicking noises while I was surfing the net. Which turned to angry grinding noises. Alarmed, I tried to force quit the program. No go. No go on anything. So I shut the computer down, only to turn it back on and be greeted with the White Screen of Death.

No worries, I still had apple care, which would replace the hard drive, and they could dump my data at the store from the old one.

Or not, since it was a MECHANICAL failure, not a SOFTWARE failure. Data retrieval would mean a sterile, dust free room, microscopic tools, people with white gloves, and $2000.

Fortunately for me, I wasn't quite as irresponsible as I at first thought, and I backed up my info October 29th of last year. My pics, my music, and my documents were for the most part intact.

What wasn't intact?

My bike log.

A bike log may not sound like a big deal, but it is. It tracks your progress as a rider, you can actually see your numbers go up while you simultaneously feel your body get stronger. It's scientific proof of improvement. My first rides were clocking in at 20/25 miles and 15mph averages. I remember how brutal they felt, how nervous I was before each time I got on the bike, the butterflies as I drove to the starting location.

Then, there were the milestone entries. My first "B" ride, 17.4 mph average, riding with a group of guys on a "real" group ride. Coming out on top at the end. My first Ladies C Ride, with an 18.3 mph average over 28 miles. My first Farmer's Market ride, my first ride with a real chance of getting dropped, and ending up with a 19.1 average. My first Battle Ride: 32 miles and 19.6 mph average. Not to mention the lap rides with hill repeats, the solo rides, the rides with old friends and new, rides that pushed my distance and rides that pushed my climbing skills.

It's a journey to be sure.

Of course, now it's all gone.

I've started a hard copy bike log so the same disappointment will never occur again (I have a good track record of keeping hard copy journals of all kind). And I know that I can remember the gist of my progress, if not the statistical details.

Still, a loss is a loss. Though the mourning period has already, fortunately, come and gone.