While cycling is a relatively new hobby for me, I love it. It is quite challenging. I had the pleasure of traveling with some friends from my local cycling group, Major Taylor  to Tucson Arizona. It was quite the adventure.  Honestly if I had known what I was signing up for, I might have not gone. I live in Chicago which is relatively flat. This was a climbing cycling trip. The first day as we were climbing, climbing, and climbing I had to reevaluate my life’s goals. I had to literally talk to myself to calm myself down. I was screaming this is crazy, this is not what I would call fun.

The second day the plan was to climb a mountain. I asked what are we doing.  I was told we would be climbing Mount Lemon.  There was reports of snow on top of the mountain so all I envisioned is us ride straight up a step hill on my bike into snow. I thought “What kind of madness is this”

So we ride fifteen to twenty minutes to actually get to the mountain. I think this is not what I imagined. It was winding roads not a straight incline. We also would not be going to the top of the mountain with the snow/ice.  I took one of my friends advice and sang and pedaled.  I put my bike in the easier gear possible. Sometime I learned the previous day, struggling with the climb. Thank God for Norma who was an angel sent from heave to help this new cyclist and a few others.  I song “Pray For Me” from Black Panther sound track. I had been listening to that album since before movie was release and it was the first thing that came to mind. I kept pedaling, and singing while it was difficult it was not impossible. The sites were beautiful. I made a few stops along the way. I was climbing a mountain.  I climbed up for thirty-five minutes then started the descent. We had to meet back at a certain time, and I was happy with my climb. The descent was so much fun, although the speed did make me nervous. The cars on my left more so. It was a great rush. You see I have a need for speed. I strive to run faster, ski faster, bike faster. Cycling down a mountain was quite a rush. I had made it up, and back down in one piece I was beyond happy.

Life Lessons Learned on that trip

1. Fear is false evidence appearing real. What I had feared in my mind, had nothing to do with what I actually experienced. That fear almost kept me from trying to climb the mountain, and I would have missed a breath taking experience
2. Hard times in life are like the climbs. Life can be uncertain, a challenge, hard work. Those hard times can have you reconsidering goals/aspirations in life. God often sends us help along the way during those times. My angel Norma, and Dian who told me about singing help me make it through.
3. The fun time are like the descent. The climb(hard times) make you appreciate the fun/joy or the good timse. If you stop/quit during the climb you never will experience the rush of the descent.

My hobbies are my life line, they help me with the rest of this thing called life