Biking, a topic that occurred to me recently....

... and I wrote a lot about it for my Matins. So I am going to copy it out here:

I wonder how many miles I've put on my old Trek mountain bike? I wish now I'd taken the time to hook up the nice odometer MFH gave me years ago. But, in some ways it is just as well to keep it simple and low tech. Biking has meant a lot to me since I started it while in St Paul, my favorite city. It was certainly a great city for biking, at least when the weather allowed it. I think I was in the best shape though when I was biking up in Fosco -- all those hills and mountain slopes. I didn't realize how much I would enjoy that. I went to the bike shop in Boone the first year I lived in Fosco and bought the Trek for about $240. This was about 14 years ago so that was more money than it is now. I knew that if I spent the money, I would force myself to bike because I will not waste money no myself.

And so I did. At first I discovered that it was fun and made me feel better. Then as work became crazier and the infighting more intense, I began to realize it was keeping me sane. Or at least I wasn't getting any crazier.

The highlight of my biking in Fosco? The day I bike up to the Blue Ridge Parkway, looked down into the valley and all the ridges piled up beyond it, and realized I was supposed to be in a nasty department meeting that was taking place at that exact moment.

Pure bliss.