TheBanyanTree: a dream realized.....

[Julie Anna Teague]

Quoting "A. Christopher Hammon" <chris at oates.org>:

>  I never got to the stage of having a motor on my
> trusty two-wheel ride. Mine will get me up Brown County hills at a
> spectacular 4-5 mph -- okay, my up hills are beginning to look more
> like a yoga pose

That cracked me up, Chris, because I can so relate.  Coming home from 
work on my bike, it's 5pm, it's hot, I've just fought traffic all the 
way home and no doubt had to scream at a couple of asshats who refused 
to acknowledge my right to share the road, and then there it is: one 
big damn straight up hill to climb between me and the last quarter mile 
home.  And yes, sometimes I'm cranking those peddles over so slowly 
that it looks like I might've paused to take a few breaths in a pose 
before cranking the other foot.  Sweaty Crane pose, or something.

I've ridden both motorcycles and bicycles, and while I enjoyed them 
both for different reasons, I decided to stick to my bicycle and sell 
the motorcycle. I dunno, it was fun learning and riding one for a 
couple of years.  Like you, sachet, it was a dream.  Or maybe for me, 
less of a "dream" than a personal challenge--could I do it?  I'm weird 
about challenges.  I can poo-poo anyone else who challenges me to do 
something as I feel I have nothing to prove to anyone else. But if I 
challenge myself, in my own pointy little head, well, that's a 
different matter.  I don't know if it's that I have something to prove 
to myself, or if I just enjoy setting challenges for myself and testing 
my will, strength, fortitude.  More the latter, I think.  I get an "If 
I can do this, I can do whatever else I need to do in life" mindset 
when I accomplish a challenge.  That is personally empowering, and we 
all like to feel empowered to live our lives!

But anyway, after riding for awhile, I decided that the experience gap 
between where I was and where I needed to be to feel like I could 
handle any situation, was just too big. I think you have to get to the 
point on a motorcycle where you stop thinking and just *know*.  I 
hesitate to say it's a Zen thing, because maybe that sounds cliche, but 
it's true.  That's the way my husband, Lee, is.  He's ridden them his 
whole life and knows in his bones what action to take in a situation.  
We've been in a few situations where there wasn't time to think, only 
react at a nearly subconscious level, to save our lives.  I was in a 
different situation at the time I learned to ride--I still had two 
young kids at home--and I just decided the risk was more than I was 
willing to take.

That, and I realized I'm pretty much always happier if I'm moving under 
my own steam, going as fast as my legs can pump the pedals, stride out 
in a run, or hike up a hill.  Personal empowerment of a different type. 
:)

Ride on!
Julie