Wednesday, May 5, 2010

slow down and enjoy

my wife wanted to go for a ride tonight, so off we went. we rode out to see my "ATW" (around the world) mark on the highway then turned around and pedaled to the argonia mart. they were still out of unicycles, but they had a few things a kindergartener could buy on the last day of school. that's tomorrow. my wife, their teacher, and my daughters who are already out of school will be bringing the little ones to the store to use the money they've counted time and time again in class.

from argonia mart, we headed west on 160 to the turn off onto the holden nature center loop. we rode slowly with no real purpose other than to get out and enjoy the perfect evening. no wind. warm temps. life is good.

on 10th street south, we encountered a couple of farmers fixing a section of fence. one of them said, "you're riding the wrong bike." i'm still trying to figure out what that meant. hmmm.

we stopped at argonia road for traffic. two cars! one stopped. the driver, a friend, commented on the beauty of the evening. we smiled and agreed. he drove on. we rode on, up the bike path and then onto main street. we turned right at the fitness center, left at the park, right onto garfield, then left again onto pine. pine took us home.

a few years back, when i was way too focused on speed and never rode recovery rides, a ride like this would've driven me nuts. how sad. i missed out on so much fun. i seldom rode with my wife or kids and when i did i was worried about the way their turtle's pace was killing my average. stupid, mike! stupid. now i just enjoy the ride and the company. some of the slowest riders i know are the people i love the most. why would i not ride with them and grin? (6.52 miles @ 7.7mph)

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