Moving Under Your Own Power

I just finished reading one of my Christmas gifts, "One Man's Wilderness, An Alaskan Odyssey" by Richard Proenneke. Near the end, he talks about the advantages of paddling a canoe down the lake under his own power, compared to a boat with a motor, and then relates it to a car, which is what caught my attention. He wrote, "Eight and a half miles can be covered in minutes with a car on an expressway, but what does a man see? What he gains in time he loses in benefit to his body and his mind. At my pace I can notice things. A bubble on the water, an arctic tern's breast tinged with the blue reflection of the lake. The landscape is not just a monotonous blur on either side." I recommend the book. You can check out more of his Alaska journals online too, from the National Park Service link.

Riding a bicycle benefits your mind and body, and allows you to notice things you might otherwise miss. Get up. Go ride.