Tues, 05/19/09 Perfect weather day: 71 degrees F....... 10 miles! woo hoo. Joints are a little achy, but my soul is soaring.

I forgot my camera today, doggone it. Let me start from the beginning:
Upon exiting my garage, I did not initiate one pedaling effort. I coasted down my driveway, across my street, "jogged" to the street across from my drive, and zoomed down that hill right onto the trail - no pedaling, all coasting! Yep, that yardage is included in the final 10 miles :-) In some aspects, I'm loving triking more than running. Running allowed me to eat all and anything I wanted w/o guilt. Triking, well, I can go faster :-)

I cut off the trail to go to the bank, then went around a side street to re-access the trail. If you live in a place w/o trails of our kind, I feel sad for you. For a small town, we are grateful to Fred & Lena Meijer for their generous investments in improving the quality of life here. Even on a rainy or blizzardy day, our trails are beautiful.

At the Kids' Kingdom, which is an incredible play ground built by our townspeople (including my family), I took a loop (former running path) off the trail and rode over to Industrial Drive (it is what it sounds like). I called a friend who lives in an apt over there, telling her that I was triking by her house. She and her partner came out onto their deck to wave happy greetings. I rang my bell in gleeful response :-) THEN, I reclaimed another portion of the infamous Hwy 57. Aside: I saw my hand dr yesterday and he always tells me that he can never be on or think about Hwy 57 w/o thinking of me. He's a fabulous person, related to Beethoven, I believe. And I'm related to Andy Griffith. Seriously.

At the river I rejoined the trail. Quite a few people are out today soaking in as much Vit D as their bodies will hold and then cherishing the beauty of today just because they can. At my 1st Century marker (100 miles) I pulled out my phone to call my neuropsychologist and exclaim this event. He's become a bicyclist in this past year and will participate in a 24-hour biking event on Father's Day wkend. He's lost 50 # while training. He looks strong & lean. Well, I don't have his phone # in my cell phone, so I was scrolling through my list to see who else would actually care, to the degree that Martin would, and along came Mary. A lady, probably in her 60's was walking toward me as I'm zagging all over the trail trying to hold my phone w/ both hands leaving other pedestrians at the mercy of my undriven trike. Mary struck up a conversation as we approached each other. So, I figured she was GOD's provision of a person w/whom to celebrate. And she was perfect! She's starting up walking again after increased arthritis. She was most curious about my trike and how comfortable it appears (IT IS). So, I gave her a business card for http://www.terratrike.com/. I'm taking my trike in for a tune-up this Fri and going to query about commission for distributing their cards and advertising their business. Mary attends our local Catholic church and says she hopes we can chat again on the trail. For some reason, I imagine we will. She was thrilled I had pedaled 100 miles. GOD is so good to me.

As I rounded the turn to head toward the lake, two elderly men (late 70's - mid 80's) stopped to have a look at this "contraption." They commented that I was "sitting down on the job". I agreed and said that I was still getting the job done. We talked a couple moments and I rode on wondering, why is it that some people think that if another is getting the job done in a more efficient manner then it must not be quite good enough? Well, that's the sentiment these two old geezers presented, but you know what? That isn't my problem. My problem is to keep on pedaling and to reach the 2nd century mark.

Oh, I wish I'd had my camera w/ me. This next section will thrill my daughter and her friends as I describe the fowl wildlife. At the south end of the lake two swans were "posed" for a free holiday bank calendar picture of May. Right around the bend, a 3rd swan stood guard while 6 ducks slept on a wooden dock. In the middle of the lake 2 other swans were "pedaling" in the sunshine. Beautiful, ain't it, girls :-)

I caught myself a couple times pedaling w/o noticing the moments. I don't want to live like that anymore. When I ran, usually it was to get that marked off my list and hurry on to the next thing (and to eat a lot and feel good inside). I'd plan to go to a neighboring town today to find some shoes, but decided during the triking adventure, that I'm not going to hurry about in life anymore. It will be what it will be. It is what it is. Que sera,sera. Savoring the opportunity to sweat and smell my sweatiness is enough for today. If other things get accomplished, so be it, but I could not cut my time short w/ GOD in nature, just to do the next thing. I realize that sometimes I will have to "hurry up". But, today is not one of those days. Pacing, choosing, remembering what's most important, connecting w/other humans - lightening their load (thereby lightening my load, also), giving Praise, basking in now, fully living in now.

Wow, I sound better than I use to. Last summer seems like a blur. I think I fought so hard to prove to myself and everyone else that I can do this by myself. I wished I'd relaxed more inside me. Next summer I don't want to think the same thing about this summer.

Blessings Abound!
~A~