Serenity in a picture..

Friday, August 28, 2015

I woke Friday morning and went through my normal pre-work routine before driving off to the farm.  I knew I wasn’t completely right, but I had so much to do there and wanted to put a dent in it before the weekend.  I spent about an hour cleaning up a multitude of messes before deciding I needed another day off and since I had them available, elected to drive back home.

I took a two-hour nap once home, but after receiving a picture from Kathy of the Hiawatha Trail she was riding, I started to get that cycling itch again.  She had sent me a picture that showed a dirt bike trail passing through a beautiful pine forest and I could literally put myself there and smell the conifers and hear the crunch of gravel beneath my tires.  It brought me a complete sense of peace if only for a moment, but there was great pleasure in knowing that a simple picture could transport me to a place where all of my stress seemed to melt with the aroma of a pine forest. 

I don’t know if this is unusual, but I have discussed with my camping buddies how an absolute peacefulness comes over me when I drive to a trailhead, throw the car in park, open the door and just take in the sounds and smells.  I can feel my blood pressure and heart rate dropping, muscles in my shoulders and arms relaxing and my breathing growing deeper and more regular.  It is almost impossible for me to think of stressful things in this environment and is likely the reason I return over and over.  Like an addictive drug, I simply can’t get enough.  Like Kathy, I think I would have noticed the Hiawatha Trail, an offshoot of the Coeur d'Alene bike trail she’d been riding, and decided it needed to be explored.  And what a gem she discovered, too.  I have made it one of my life’s missions to expose as many people to these experiences as I can in the hopes that they will be one of the lucky ones who, like me, breathes deeply, uses all their senses to take in the serenity, and determines that it won’t be long before they are again in nature.

I was on my bike by mid-afternoon and heading for my Waite Hill course.  It too is rolling and challenging and I figured I’d be tired from the previous day and would be taking it slower.  I was right, but it wasn’t horrible.  I completed the course in two hours tired but pleased that I’d ridden again instead of napping the day away.  I may pay for it later, I surmised, but I might not either.  I’d gotten out.  I’d pushed out of my comfort zone and into my sweat and training zone.  It was a good place to go.

Bike duration:  Two hours.

Training Heart Rate:  120 bpm.

Calories burned during workout:  1700.