Yesterday

Yesterday I rode my bike. For 50 miles. It took a little under 3 hours so that put my average speed around 20-23 mph. It was one of the toughest things that I have ever done. We climbed a mountain called Fouche Gap and at the top you can see the entire area of Rome and the surrounding country! It is beautiful. I don't ride with my camera, I should but wait, I don't have a camera! But maybe I will try and go up again and take some pictures so you guys can see how high we were. Then we flew down the mountain and had rolling hills the rest of the way. Long ride short, we finally got back into downtown Rome to the bike shop and just sat down in front of the fan to cool off. I then went to a place in Rome called Schroeder's Deli. One of the best pizza places that I have ever been to. We had some good eats there. But after that I had to take care of the things in town like going to the bank, paying rent, and so on. So I rode my bike through Rome all afternoon doing the things that I needed to do. And I finally got back to my apartment a long time after I had wanted to and I sat down and felt good about myself. Instead of driving around in air-conditioning I rode my bike. I didn't do the convenient thing. And it was simple. Anybody can ride a bike or walk to get things done, it just takes a little more time. And that was the nice thing about it. It slowed me down and I wasn't in a rush to make it to the next light while it was still green or not be sociable with the people I met. I guess what I'm saying is that I think I caught a glimpse of what could be if people just slowed down. If we all just walked or biked to places how much more happier would we be? Our air would be cleaner, we would be more physically fit people, we might smell a little but who cares! We would not be so caught up in getting things done by a certain time but rather we would just be along for a ride or walk. I don't know if I'm just too much of an idealist but I think it would be an amazing transformation of the Western culture if it came to fruition. If we all just enjoyed life without the pressure of time or any of that it would be such a blessing. But anyway, that was yesterday.