New Bike High

I think the reason I like biking is because it's all about moving forward, being aware of your surroundings, making your surroundings aware of you, earning your keep as you travel forward, in whatever direction you please. Looking forward, looking around, accepting that sometimes you will swallow a bug, get yelled at by impatient, lead-footed motorists, get sunburnt, exhaust your fuel supply, fall down, hurt yourself. But you always get better, always improve with each pedal forward. Going up a hill, you may curse nature for creating such an obstacle, but your sweat and hard work are rewarded tenfold on the way down, wind in hair, you feel like a demigod floating down to visit mere mortals.



And then, when the roads are flat, you're left to contemplate the issues of today, tomorrow, yesterday...and you feel a profound connection to the world around you, how related we all are. Next thing you know you've traveled twenty, thirty, forty miles, and you've really traveled, you've earned it, and you feel strong. Strong enough to face another day, another mile, another gigantic hill, shaking with the anticipation of gliding down, wind in hair, like a memory of something better than yourself.


Any time I start out on a long ride, the first few miles are filled with doubt and worry. What if I can't make it? What if I'm not strong enough? What if it's too hard? What if I fall? But once my blood gets going, I sweat out all my anxiety and just let go. I just ride. And I remember I can do anything, I am strong enough to overcome any hill, it's all inside and I just have to access it. It gives me the confidence I need to tackle other issues in my life.