Why I Ride

I could see from the look on my teachers face, she was worried about me riding my bike home in the dark. I've seen this look on many people before. The making of the worry face is usually followed by questions like "How far are you riding again?" "Are you SURE you don't need a ride?" "Are you going to be warm enough?" I've been asked all of these questions many times over the last 10 years, and I always respond the same, "I'll be warm enough, it's not that far, and I'm positive I don't need a ride."

There is a sharp disconnect between people who ride bikes medium to long distances, regularly, and people who might jump on their cruiser bike once a year for a bar crawl or trip to the ice cream shop with the kids. The disconnect makes the annual bike riders (who are mostly car drivers) think that those who ride regularly, and in all weather must be out of their damn minds. We aren't out of our minds, we just know something you don't; a knowledge of how the city is laid out for the perfect ride home and intimate details of every neighborhood we ride through.

    Tonight was the first time in a while I've done a ride longer than tooling around downtown Salt Lake to get errands done. Six miles to class, seven miles home, for a grand total of a 13 mile day. It felt great. No... it felt absolutely fantastic. Zipping along 300 East on my way to my Thursday night class allowed my mind to wander, my legs to get into a rhythm and for my heart rate to elevate a bit. The sun was just starting to set over the Oquirrh Mountains, casting shades of pink and orange across the sky. I don't ride south much on 300 East, so the architecture and styles of homes along the way caught my eye. They reminded me of the Harvard/Yale neighborhood, but without Mercedes in the drive ways. 

   

     When I got back on the road after class, the roads were quiet. The sounds of car stereos played late night jazz on KUER and the beats of ethnic music. As I passed over State St Davey Davis passed by on the opposite side of the street, and we hollered out to each other. The familiar smell of laundry in the dryer and someones late night dinner filled my nose. I'm experiencing snippets of other peoples lives in the few seconds it takes for me to ride by their house. 

 These experiences are what keep me riding a bike. I miss them when I'm in a car. Never are we so intimately acquainted with a city as when we are on foot or by bike.

The word for 2015 and why I'm reviving this old bird

My friend Jessica has ignited a fire in me these days. I sort of want to just word vomit this all out, but I'll try to make it clear and concise.

Jessica is a lifestyle blogger, skier, inspirer, and graphic designer, and all around good soul. She was telling me that in the bloggesphere, bloggers will pick a word every year and meditate on it, try to live their life to include that word in it. I like this challenge. It makes you think about what word you want to live your life more centered around.

I joked with Jessica that my word was 'bird' because "Bird is the word, is the word..." is the worst.joke.ever.  After a giggle and inspiring session talking with Jessica I was meditating more on what word I would want to live more for everyday this year and I chose 'kindness'. Not like 'random acts of kindness' or being sweet to little old ladies. Just not being a jackass. I can be a pretty visceral person. Get me on a toot about something and chances are I'll end up insulting your dead grandmother and not apologizing for it.

    I want to live 2015 dedicated to having the patience to choose kindness when being mean and spiteful is easy. At the times when the internet has torn my personal image and business to shreds, I want to ignore these people and choose to be kind to them, if they ever rear their heads out of their mom's basement to come get kombucha from me (hah! I kid!).

   I want to be kind to my body. Treat it with respect by moving it everyday and shaking out the dust that seems to settle in my joints all to frequently as I age. I want to live a more kind diet that is good for my body and the planet. I also want to be kind to the planet. The place that sustains human life, gives us our life force, and keeps us breathing. I want to drive less, bike more, use my transit pass, and not bitch about traffic. And I want to be kinder to my brain by writing things out and publishing them here. I'm never going to share a single fucking link to this on Facebook, but it will be here, lurking, and so will you, creeper.

   So here's to a kinder 2015. May we reflect the intentions we present to the universe.