Maybe we should try riding backwards!

          All spring long I've been working diligently to try to ride under every condition imaginable to prepare for the Bike To The Bay.  I've gone on hilly trails, ones with many intersections, wide open trails with the wind whipping in my face... I've even gone in temperatures where my fingers were ready to fall off from the blustery cold.

     But last weekend, being Memorial Day weekend, I just wanted to play it by ear, and see where my bike would take me.  I had no plans to ride with any of my fast riding buddies, and I knew without a plan there was no way I was going by myself on a congested trail with a million intersections.  

     If I was riding by myself it had to be somewhere safe like a park.  I don't train for speed or endurance at a park, but it's a real obstacle course just dodging pedestrians; so Wildwood Park on a holiday weekend was exactly what I needed.

     My son Matt doesn't have a bike, but he does have roller-blades, and he went riding with me last summer when I was just learning how to maneuver my new road bike.  The tiny wheels on roller-blades take a lot more effort to go the same speed as a bike; especially a road bike, but I remember last year his pace was perfect while I tried to get used to my complicated bike.

     I figured if Matt went with me I would have a riding buddy as well as a camera man, because you know I like my pictures:)

     But I guess some people take things literally;  I handed Matt the camera and asked him to take a picture, it no sooner left my hand and this was what I ended up with... 

          I guess I needed to specify that I wanted to be looking when he took it... 

          We rode around the park a while and I quickly realized I had come a long way from last summer; now I found that I needed to be in the lowest gear to keep my speed down so my poor son didn't die of a heart attack just trying to keep up.  

     The good news with riding in the lowest gear was, besides the ride being less exhausting, when I came to a hill or a stop I never had to down shift because I was already there.

     I've come to realize this is my favorite time of spring because there are pink flowers everywhere, and the scenery made me forget that a bike ride is a workout.

     

          I've spent so much time riding with fast riders trying to keep up with them and I found it refreshing taking a ride where I have to slow down for once.  

     Back in the day I scrambled so fast that even I couldn't keep up with me...  Now, because my legs and brain tend to argue about how fast to go, I find myself  giving in to a pace that actually forces me to appreciate the simple things like flowers and birds; anything that doesn't get done probably wasn't supposed to...

     Remember how Matt thought he was funny  taking a random picture because I didn't specify... well he also told me not to take his picture...  However, I just love how these smart phones have two way cameras, and in the day of "selfies" I discovered all I had to do was hold the camera up and smile into it and he never had a clue I took this... Lucky for me that he doesn't read my blog:)

       Though I don't really think he minded spending the day with dear old mom:)

                           

     It sure seems like people these days are in such a hurry to get to where they want to be that they don't take the time to appreciate where they already are.  

     By going slower I tend to notice things I didn't before, and this bike ride was a perfect example.  But if slowing the pace helps us see things we missed... maybe we should try riding backwards:)

Have a great day!!

Christine:)