Me at my best/Me at my worst...

Another thing I appreciate about my biking experience - it is another opportunity to look at myself and get some sense of the forces inside me that have shaped and continued to shape me (and by that I am NOT referring to pizza). During my Saturday morning ride with The Hammer I got those glimpses of things within me that are both good and not so good. I had started the ride with a definite agenda which was to make it past the Olive Library and out to Snyder's Tavern (scary place!!!). This is a prime example of my goal-setting/goal achieving/task oriented self. Now, in many respects these are good qualities, but in my case, they are often taken to the extreme. I become solely focused on the goal and lose sight of it's meaning. And so we set off on a lovely fall morning, out across the dyke and up 28A until we got to Snyder's. I could have been content there, goal being met, to turn around, mentally putting a little "check" in my goal list for the day. But the day was beautiful, the sun was bright, my legs felt strong, and Rich's company was delightful,so we pressed on, now, without a specific goal. We were just cruising to see what lay up around the next turn. We eventually pedaled out onto the bridge where the views were just "gorgeous". We stopped for a few minutes, took a couple of photos and just took in the morning. Here is my better self emerging. Learning to relax and savor the moment, not the task. However, it was quite comforting to note that the bridge marked exactly the ten mile mark from the Frying Pan. So, not only was my task oriented creature satisfied, but the "Ten Mile Bridge" got it's name. On the return leg, out of a sense of curiosity, not a need to log distance, we turned right at the sign that say "Sundown/Grahamsville" and went up what I believe is Watson Hollow Road. Now, we were just "splorin" - riding comfortably, looking at the scenery, taking it ll in.I figured we would turn around when the climbing started to get seriously steep but that never really happened. We just kept gradually climbing for a few miles until, by mutual decree, we decided to turn around and head back. It was only when we got back to the cars that I indulged my inner goalie and asked Hammer for the mileage - 25 miles. A good days ride. Then I went home and promptly reviewed our route on GoogleEarth to check the vertical climb we made while splorin. All of 250 vertical feet. Oh well, progress...not perfection.
Goodnight Gang.