Bikes!

Biking was one of my first loves. It was my first mode of transportation where I could cover serious distance quickly and have to rely on nobody but myself. As I flew down hills, learned to pop curbs, and ride no handed, I was free. I would ditch my un-cool parental required helmet at the end of the block and ride fast loving the feeling of the wind flowing through my hair. On my 16th birthday what did I get? A trip to the bike shop for a brand new bike! Not the present I was dreaming of but all the same a great set of wheels that still serves me to this day. After I became "mature" enough to drive in my parents eyes I was allowed car access and biking became a thing of the past. Three Years later as a freshman in college I once again had no car access an was back on the bike. I began to ride, just to work and class at first but had so much fun that I decided to try pleasure biking. Fort Custer is a somewhat local outdoor area that was recommended to me and I enlisted a good friend to drive there with me and go for a ride. It was great, I soon had a season pass and I was in love with biking again. Even short rides to and from more serious things like class can be an adventure on a bicycle.

Today I have a car that I use as little as possible, partly for fear of a breakdown and partly to save on gas, opting to bike whenever I can. Oftentimes such as today I find myself inappropriately dressed for the weather. The hint of sun that showed promise in the morning was nowhere to be found by mid afternoon, so there I was in shorts and a t-shirt biking home in the cold rain. I had a small pity party as I climbed onto my soaked bike seat and it only got worse as I felt spray from the tires soaking straight through my shorts as rain pelted my face and assaulted my barely open eyes. After riding just a short distance including up a decent hill I warmed up and had a complete change of feelings. I slowed down and relaxed, I let the rain hit me the way I would when I was younger and didn't worry about such things as being wet and out in chilly weather. I thought about rain and the water cycle and what a miracle it is. Our planet is regularly showered with the one essential ingredient for life and instead of celebrating in this miracle I usually hide away and wait for it to pass. My forced encounter with the rain was only because I chose to bike that day and leave myself exposed to whatever the earth threw at me. As I walked into my cold, drafty, dirty, and creaky house that shelters me from the rain, I remembered how good I really have it.