Herman

Sara did two, I did one

I love circles. With each turn of the wheel I move 7.6 feed forward and the next turn begins. The turns are continuous, impossible to tell where one turn ends and the other turn begins. The wheels spin and the miles roll by. Downhills are powered entirely by gravity. For uphills the circular motion of my feet turns circles which turn other circles and those turning circles move the bike forward over the ground. Spinning circles. Continuous and fluid, floating.

Without the circles, I am Herman Munster. Herman throws himself forward violently to pile-drive his leg into the pavement with maximum force. Then he does the same thing with the other leg. Again and again he does this, over and over. Pile driving each leg into the ground. Downhills are no different but increase in the crushing force of each impact. There are no circles. There is no fluidity. No floating.

Today I went without circles, helping Sara out with a 5K relay. She was scheduled to run one of three legs, but her team unraveled and so she recruited her creaky old Dad to race with her, without the benefit of circles.

There will be a lot of Advil tomorrow, but we had a blast as father and daughter team. And I have a renewed appreciation for circles. And for my daughter who propels herself for miles almost very day, without the benefit of circles.

Chris


"Life Begins At The End Of Your Comfort Zone"

     -- Unknown