Today is friday and I have it off work-YEA!! I am so excited! I love days off!
I decided this morning I would start off my day with a bike ride. About a month ago, my husband Gary purchased bikes for us. We are not exactly what you would call 'athletic people' but since we have recently moved to a neighborhood where there are many bike & walking trails we decided it would be a fun thing to do. Also, my son Adam and his wife got bikes for all of their family last Christmas and we are hoping to do some bike riding with them.
This is a picture of Gary putting one of the bikes together.
They are nice bikes in a pretty green color, and of course they match. We may be old and a bit pathetic looking when we ride, but our bikes will look cool!
We have gone for a few bike rides on saturday mornings which I have loved!
Anyway, today I decided to go by myself, and I learned a few lessons during my ride. I would like to share them...
1. You need to look up while riding. During the first part of my ride I kept my eyes on the path I was on, but after awhile I realized I was missing the best part of the ride. I told myself to look around...there was so much beauty I was missing by looking down. The scenery around me was lovely and yet all I was seeing was pavement. This is also true in life. I am often looking at the 'path' I am on rather than the 'scenery' around me. It's good to look down long enough to keep you on course, but how sad it is to miss all the good and enjoyable pleasures there are around you. Even when the path became hard to travel...the view was still beautiful!
2. Know where you are going before you start. I just took off this morning assuming it was going to be an easy ride. I have driven past this bike path and it looks very easy. However, there was more incline than I realized, and it ended up being much more physically challenging that what I expected. It's good to take on challenges, both in bike riding and in life, but know your abilities and limits and choose appropriately. It's ok to say 'no...I'm not ready yet'.
3. Face the truth...I am overweight and out of shape! My heart was pounding and my breathing was not very 'lady-like'. My head and chest hurt, my hands felt numb, and my knees starting screaming at me as if they were saying "what in the heck do you think you are doing"?
An old Garth Brook song kept running through my mind..."I'm to young to feel this damn old".
