night biking deserves a quiet night

i've done a fair amount of cycling in the past few years. living in a town where biking is welcoming and friendly and they give you your own lane, it's hard to justify not biking. of course, it is not always the fastest way to get around town, depending on your fitness, but you can get almost anywhere in a reasonable time (i.e. less than an hour). unless you're going up some steep hill, like on the way to one of the nature areas. or to visit friends who live near aforementioned nature areas.

where i used to live, it was a straight shot to downtown. probably a mile, maybe 10-15 minutes. fun to do during the day. but at night, coming home from a friend's house, say...well it was just darned lovely. there were many nights, summer or winter, where the still of the night air was so right, it didn't matter that i had to go a few miles to get home.

and now, i live in a new place, which requires a more uphill battle. i love going downhill to work. in fact, if work were uphill, i might never go. i sometimes don't go home because i dread the hill. it is a workout, both physical and cardio.

but this week, i did it 3 days in a row, which is a record for me. and each night it was raining. and each night i thought, "ugh, it's raining." but i put on my rain gear and went about my business.

now my bike has some issues with changing to the lowest gear. or any gear, really. but especially the low gears. i've tried coasting and changing gears, and it just doesn't seem to engage. which makes me think something is wrong with the derailleur. or something. i know very little about bikes (and don't want to be lectured).

but i do know that i need to be in the lowest gear before i make the climb. and i know that if i just take my time, i can make it up at least half way before i have to stop and shake out my legs. i'm getting less and less shortness of breath from the workout, but my legs are still working harder than the pain i can bear.

anyway, i try to think about anything besides biking while i'm biking up that hill. slow and steady (my turtle instinct), i try to put things like breathing and pain out of my mind, and just wonder about this and that, christmas lights on houses, branches hanging over the street, traffic in either direction, sticks in the road, people driving by too fast, why i wiggle around so much when i'm climbing (as evidenced by my wiggling bike light)...

but the ride is nice. the time out from the day. taking in the weather and the neighborhood and the road itself. thinking about what i've done today and what i'll do tomorrow. (wishing i had a way to record my thoughts while biking since i can't use my hands.)

when i get to the top of the hill, i always do an arm raise and pump, celebrating that YES, i survived it again. and when i get home, and have a sweet little downhill before i park, i think WOO HOO! i'm so glad to be home.

and i guess i sort of forget about the pain (but not really), because i go back out again the next day. the bike riding is driven by the not wanting to deal with the hassle of parking for free, not wanting to pay for parking, and trying to 'save the environment' as much as i can. it's not much, but it's more than some people do.

and i'm proud of that.