A few weeks ago, friend Tom and I strapped our bicycles to his van and headed off to the 44th Annual Hilly Hundred. The “Hilly” is a two-day bicycle tour of the country roads around Bloomington, Indiana - about 50 miles each day. The Hilly is not a race. Riders are encouraged to take their time and enjoy the fall scenery. As a result, the Hilly draws participants from all age groups - from under 10 to over 70.

It’s become something of a Fall ritual for Tom and me. Tom, who has ridden the Hilly perhaps 20 times, celebrated his 65th birthday earlier this year. As for me (a mere tyke at 63), this was my ninth ride.

Last time, I recommended a book called “The New Retire-Mentality” by Mitch Anthony. It contains a lot of useful advice for us “new” retirees, as well as this quote from Robert Eliot:

“It’s not important to run on the fast track but on your track. Pretend you have only six months to live, and make three lists. (1) Things you have to do. (2) Things you want to do. And (3) Things you neither have to do nor want to do. Then, for the rest of your life, forget everything on the third list.”

One thing I’ve learned since retiring is that there are lots of people who are willing to give you suggestions about what to do with your time. (Perhaps the “advice-givers” were always there...I’m just paying more attention to them now that I’m a “gentleman of leisure.”)

Most of the suggestions I received - early on - fell into two categories: (a) ways to be totally active and (b) ways to be totally inert. That touched off a battle between my “Inner Over Achiever” and my “Inner Slob.”

I come from a long line of strong, independent women. Call it a blessing or a curse, as it has been both.

My grandmother was one of the most brilliant individuals I have ever known. A 1920 graduate of Martinsville High School, she could quote from literature and poetry, calculate math, speak German and dissect a sentence with lightening speed. She was also as “independent as a hog on ice” as the family would say.

I had a strange experience a few weeks ago.  For more than 36 years (the last 21 years with the same company), my life had been dictated by my job, and the routine that went with it. That all changed on October 1 - my final day as a 9-to-5er.  That afternoon, as I sat in my office and finished packing my last carton of worklife memorabilia, it occurred to me that October 2 would be very different than the 13,000 days that had come before: I would be able to create my own schedule - to do whatever I wanted to do.