Biking

    Coming down a hill that hits a sharp corner on your very old bike, and finding you have no brakes does two things to you.  One, it makes you value your life, as you know it.  Two, it makes you shop for a new bike.  For my birthday I chose a new bike.  I figured it was worth buying a really nice one, since you only buy 1 or two bikes in your whole life time.  I shopped around and finally chose a nice Trek hybrid.  I kept going up in the line for features that I thought were enough, but not too much for me.  This bike would be my last one. 
    I started really enjoying riding, and kept increasing how far and how long I would ride, 6 miles, 10, 12, and then 20.  My girlfriend invited me to join a group that rides around Stoney Creek, and after a few times riding with them, she announced to me, you are going to buy a used road bike from one of our members.  I tried it, thinking, I can't buy another bike within one year, but I really really liked it, so I did.  The first time we went out, it was like I had wings.  We rode 3 laps around Stoney and did 30 miles, and everyone else had to be done for the day, and I was begging them to go one more with me. 
    In the fall I joined them for a ride up north.  We did 40 miles around Mission Peninsula, and 70 around Leelanau the next day.  The hills that I climbed were unbelievable, and i would never have thought I could do something so challenging, without the push of my group, and my 'new' rode bike.

Spring

    Warm air is finally here along with rain and wind, but no more snow is in sight.  Crocus are blooming with bursts of yellow and purple and blue, giving me hope that life is beginning anew.  Even though parts of life end, spring always encourages me that new life begins every year, and it can be the same for me.  No matter how hard it gets, there is hope for the future.  Sometimes all it takes is a good nights rest.  Other times healing and renewal take weeks.
     For me it has been two years.  Two years of healing, and it is not done yet.  Two years of struggling, physical therapy, emotional highs and lows, lots of tears and pain.  Friends and family have thankfully been a great support, but I want to be well and whole again.  Able to walk with no pain, run a race, and ride into the sunset.  But I have hope, as spring is in the air, and new life is bursting forth.