Cycling Through

Okay, I promise all of my posts won't be so gushingly inspirational -- I guess I've just been extra introspective as of late -- but I just couldn't pass this one up.

I discovered yesterday that my bike, a Trek 3900 mountain bike, has 24 speeds.  I have owned the bike for four years.  I knew when I bought the bike that it had 24 speeds, which is part of the reason I liked it, and yet I just discovered the range of speeds yesterday.

I was taking advantage of the absolutely gorgeous day we were having in Burlington, thoroughly enjoying the ride, when I hit a hill.  As per my post about Miley Cyrus, I pushed on.  In the middle of the hill, I found myself thinking, why the hell is this hill so damn hard?  When am I gonna start being able to just speed up these hills like all the other bikers?  (I was feeling decidedly less inspired than the other day).  Then it occurred to me:  I was in the wrong gear.  Without getting into the details of the gears on my bike, I'll say I usually stay within a small range of about 7 gears out of the 24 at my disposal.  Why?  I have absolutely no idea, except that I'm not really one for change.  But yesterday, after I decided to go out on a limb and switch to a lower gear (or higher -- not sure -- whichever made the hill easier), low and behold I made it up the hill with relatively little trouble!

Previous to this experience, I'd find myself thinking, I can make it up any hill, no matter how difficult -- it's just a matter of allowing myself to go as slow as I need to, which sounds like a reasonable, if not positive, sentiment.  But then I would quit about half way up about half of the hills I undertook.  Then I'd feel shame and guilt -- you know the drill I'm sure.  So I'm amending my thoughts.  I'm not retracting the above statement --  I still think it's true and helpful.  But I'm adding this:  you can make it up any hill, no matter how difficult, as long as you allow yourself to go at your own pace and use the right gear!