Day 7: Looking for Hills

“Never measure the height of a mountain until you have reached the top. Then you will know how low it was.” Dag Hammarskjold

I really enjoy bike rides but must confess that since my ride from LA to Portland last spring I have not been very intentional about getting out. I have lots of excuses. My house sits along a frontage road to a freeway. It’s either too hot, too cold, too windy, etc. But today I decided to get off my “but’s” and my butt and go look for a new route. I rode down a few side streets and through a residential area I hadn’t explored before. The path took a sharp turn up a steep hill and soon I was huffing and puffing my way up a new escape route with little traffic, but rugged terrain.

I found myself flashing back to when I first got into cycling. I was working as a grad assistant at Azusa Pacific University and had made friends with a few misfits - the director of admissions and a football coach who taught mountaineering classes. They had invited me to go with them for a bike ride around San Dimas and Glendora. I thought I was in pretty good shape from playing basketball and figured it might be fun to tool around town with these elderly gentlemen. I was certain they would marvel at my conditioning as I would be waiting for them at every street corner. That mythological view of myself was soon shattered.

We started our ride simply enough, down a busy street where the tempo was slow because of traffic or interrupted because of traffic lights. It was a comfortable pace and I was beaming with confidence. Then we made a sharp left turn that led north toward the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. Once we were out of traffic the fun really began. The pace quickened and I began to struggle to keep up when suddenly things got exponentially harder.

We were riding down a perfectly good street when the leader suddenly took a sharp turn into a residential neighborhood that went up hill at about an 8% grade. I was confused. I had always tried to avoid hills not look for them. I muscled up and followed the leader. We got to the top of the hill, turned around, and careened down. Boy, I was glad that was over! But as soon as these mad men hit the bottom they turned around and started back up another stupid hill.

I soon discovered that this was normal for these two nuts. They went around town LOOKING for the steepest hills to conquer. I breathlessly struggled through the rest of the ride and at the end I was exhausted, but exhilarated. I knew I had accomplished one heck of a feat. It dawned on me that by avoiding the hills I had always perceived them as a negative ... from that moment on I saw hills as a challenge not an obstacle.

I wonder how many things in my life I have carried a negative attitude about - things that I have avoided because they are “too steep” but things that would make me stronger if I could only attack them with a positive attitude?

I think it is time for me to get back on my bike ... time to quit taking the easy way out ... it is time for me to start looking for some hills.

#Paradigm #Intentionality #TheJourney #Journeyof1000Days #Bicycling