Da Wow Factor

I can't even begin to tell you about the rush that I had this morning on my bike ride. We rode about 35 miles. Up hills and down hills (which by the way is AWESOME) and I don't actually mind the up hills. They bring some measure of accomplishment. Kind of like life (oh here we go).....

There have been a number of uphills in my life when I spent a lot of time on my knees crying for help to make it through this one more hour, one more day, one more week. It is on the uphill that we take life a little slower, causing ourselves to dig deeper and deeper to see what we are made of. We cry out, "I will not get off this bike, I will not get off this bike, I will not get off this bike." Or "I will not quit." We push through the pain, even when we think we can go no more, and do you know why? Because we won't be on the uphill forever. What goes up must come down. It is the law of nature. It is the law of God.

Many occasions I have flown down the hill, trying not to be reckless, but one time I got too close to a mountain lion. Not much happened, he went his way, I went my way. Good thing I was going fast, but prolly not faster than he could have gone if he really wanted to get me. It is on the downhills we get complacent. Speed is awesome. Flying down a hill at 40mph is terrifying, but when you get used to it, it isn't so bad. :) Sometimes life is like that. We watch a show that we know we shouldn't (which I am totally guilty of) and it starts to mess with our minds. We start to think, oh that isn't so bad, there is just a little bit of ..... (fill in the blank). We still need to proceed with caution.

SO you see, life is like a bike ride :)

Ok seriously. All metaphors aside, I did do an amazing ride this morning. My brother thankfully came along. It was fun to have him and I hope that we can do it again. Running and biking are so different. I can really only run about 6 miles (more if I really wanted to but seriously, 6 miles of canal and I am about done for) and you don't get to see much "world" running. I used to ride with a good friend and we would pull our kids. Her little 4 year old would say, "Mom, I want to see da wo-old (world)" I think of him each time I am on my bike. I can ride 35 miles and see a lot of the world. I can enjoy my surroundings (unless it is pitch black,but thankfully for my really expensive light I can see every rock, groove, and shrub), breath in the fresh air, feel a "cool" breeze on a crisp fall morning, and burn a few calories doing it. I.AM.IN.LOVE.