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
- 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
- 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.
- 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