This is a post from my current favourite bike blog, thebikenerd.com, and is so beautiful I just had to reproduce it in full. It also helps answer why all my favourite cycling streets are hills, even when I am going back up them. It is not just about a sense of achievement, about having earnt the reverse direction free-wheel. It is about this:
Hills. I like hills. Let me explain.
When dealing with the implosion of my marriage, which was a very much self-inflicted situation, I felt pain. Every ounce of me hurt. I was scared, sad, confused and just about everything else you can imagine. When I was in the middle of this I had no idea when the pain would end. No idea when I’d be able to laugh again.
Back to the hills. They hurt like heck. Your heart feels like it’s going to explode, your legs are screaming, your lungs feel like they’regoing to burst in your chest. But then I remember — all that pain stops at the top of this hill. I’ll rest for a minute and continue on my way and won’t feel a thing. I know the pain will end, the discomfort will fade and I’ll ride along like nothing happend.
That’s why I like hills; they remind me of the temporary nature of pain, discomfort, sadness and whatever other emotion we all endure. It sucks when you’re in the middle of it, and it might take awhile to get through it, but it’ll happen. I just need to keep pedaling.
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