Happy Trails

The day after Christmas I leaped up from my aero-mattress at Sarah's house to go swim with her team @ 5:30am. I swam 4 miles (my longest swim to date.) Happily exerted, showered & fed by 8am, I shopped at Stanford mall with Lisa next, where wealth & style abounded. Beautifully fashionable families strolled by baby Gap & Crate & Barrel. It felt so different from my life (where Zoe wrote her name on her plain felt stocking with a black Sharpie marker.)

As I drove out of the mall, a guy riding an older mountain bike with a happy grin nodded at me. His helmet was warped blue plastic with a white Styrofoam base protruding around his head, he wore a fitted long sleeve olive color wool v-neck sweater, OP running shorts & knee high socks. What a sight for sore eyes, he was just what I needed - I smiled back REAL BIG!

I started mountain biking again & I've been having bike envy of all my friend's newer bikes. My 16 year old Trek 850 doesn't have adjustable air shocks or lightweight titanium sprockets. I started to think I needed a more modern bike to keep up with current styles & my own derived social pressures. But then I looked at this random guy, having a great afternoon with an old bike & old gear.

Biker guy made me smile, reminded me of all the great memories that went along with my old bike & made me want to keep using it. I'm so used to a 2-3 year life for electronics, I lumped my bike into that category. Now that I have renewed faith in my purple Trek, I'm excited to share some smiles. I've got it on my car bike rack heading up to Mendocino right now & plan to cover some serious ground the next few days! Thanks biker guy & happy trails everyone!