1Bike Rides
"I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike, I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride it where I like." -Bicycle Race, Queen
Bike Rides. Simple words. I'd always thought of them as just a leisure thing where you take your camera to take some cool pictures. One of my best friends is always going on them, and she loves it. I'd never understood what was to love, but now I think I do. I've recently started going on bike rides. I've needed some form of exercise to get out of the house other than school and church and friends. So yesterday I put on some work out clothes and grabbed my ipod. I headed out the door and jumped on my bike. To be frank, it was amazing. I was cycling fast, not top speed, but fast enough for me. I passed all these different people. There were middle age women all out walking their dogs, then there were the old couples going on walks together. And we had the other young high schoolers who were running with their ipods. I even saw plenty of middle age men who were on intense bike rides that probable went for about 30 miles (only like 3 times farther than me?). My favorite person to come across had to be this old man. I saw him and I just smiled. He was walking along, with his huge old man glasses. His gray hair was neatly brushed to the side, and his pants and his windbreaker didn't match perfectly. He smiled as I rode past and gave me a nod. I smiled back because I knew he was perfectly content with himself. He was carefree at that moment. He did not care where he went or how long it took. He did not care what he looked like or who started at him, he was himself and that was all that mattered. He taught me something. He taught me that I bike ride was just what I needed. He taught me how I just needed to get away from the hustle of my life and take half an hour of time to be free. I was free from thought, free from the burden of waiting for calls on my cell phone, free from drama, free from everything. I did not eve have to bother with running words through my mind, my ipod was happy to do that for me. And that was a feeling that I loved.
You could call this an ode to bicycles, an ode to bike rides, an ode to that old man who taught me what I needed, an ode to my best friend who inspired me to take that bike ride. Whatever you call it, I call it a moment of peace and I will strive for many times a more.
Authors Note: I don't know who the old man is, but I do know that best friend who deserves her credit would be a Kristen Nicole Webb. Kristen, for today, I think you are a star, and I thank you forever more for shinning brightly for me.