Lessons from the seat of my bike ...

When I started biking it was BECAUSE I wanted to get more fit, and if possible lose a bit of the extra weight I was carrying ...

I stress the word BECAUSE, because too often my attitude when I got on my bike and began to pedal was one of resentment ... this was not something I wanted to do, it was something I HAD to do ... I was doing it because it was good for me, not because I was enjoying it ...

Last summer I spent a lot of time on my bike ... in the fall I used time off to head up the road to Riding Mountain National Park and explore some of the trails and paths that snake through the wilderness there ... but even in those moments, the very act of riding my bike was more of a chore than a pleasure ...

This spring as the weather improved, I again got out on my bike and began riding ... and again it was a chore, not a pleasure ... but somewhere along the line this summer my attitude to biking began to shift ...

I no longer go out biking BECAUSE I want to get fit and lose weight ... I've done both of those things ... NOW, I go out and bike BECAUSE I like it, the very act of pedalling on my bike, listening to music feels so GOOD ... I enjoy the feeling of freedom that comes with pedalling long the highways, bi ways, side roads, back roads and grassy paths that are ALL AROUND this area ... I love the solitude of pedalling through an area only to encounter birds, deer, and other animals who would have long vanished at the approach of a car ... I love the feel of the wind, the sun and the even the rain on my face and my body as I pedal ... I love being able to put music on my head phones and go out pedalling knowing that it is me, creation and the Creator ...

My biking now is a time of relaxation ... a time of reflection ... a time of prayer ... and most of all a time wherein I can find within my self the peaceful centre - the axis mundi - I need to move through my day and continue on my journey of wholeness ...

What began as a chore, has now become an immense pleasure ... I do not look forward to the coming of snow and cold because it means that for a few months my bike goes into storage awaiting the stirring of spring ... I will find other ways to continue to exercise over the winter, but none will be as rewarding as the feeling that comes when you are pedalling up a long grinding hill and your thighs and your knees are screaming out in pain and you want to quit, your muscles are beginning to knot up, and your joints are aching like they never have before ... but your stubbornness kicks in and you gear down and keep pushing the pedals... one leg straining downward after another ... your breath and your legs both gasping ... you mark the distance by watching the passing of the asphalt stones underneath you, each tiny speck passing by one by one ... you pedal stroke after stroke until at last you suddenly find yourself cresting the hill and a euphoric sense of relief floods over you as you take a deep breath, filling your lungs with the oxygen they are starving for ... and with a huge smile that pushed back the pain you feel in your legs you begin to prepare yourself for the NEXT hill that lies just beyond ...

Later, standing in the shower letting the warm water wash away the dust ... you think back to that hill and recall it only as "no big deal ..." because you made it ... and each time you come to it, it gets easier and easier ...

There's a life lesson in there ... one that worth living, learning and passing on ...