You Never Really Know a Road Until...

You can drive a road a million times, but it isn't until you walk, run, or bike it that you really know the road, or the neighborhood. The world looks different from a bike. So much so, I would say, that it can alter the way you see the whole world. As I write this, I'm watching a Subaru commercial. It shows newly weds driving on a remote gravel road (perfectly passable by any front drive car), encountering a bull, driving around it, and having their picnic rained out. They hop back in the car and drive back from where they came. The message is that they are an unusual couple and even though they were rained out, they have a better memory than if they had done something more traditional. More traditional than driving a car on a road? The point the commercial misses is that the experience of that place would be deeper if they experienced the route more closely. I love getting away to the wilderness, getting away from people and cars and noise. But you don't need to drive a 4x4 into the wilderness to have a new experience. Ride your bike from wherever you live to wherever you work, or downtown to a coffee shop for dessert, and you'll see what I mean. You'll notice the neighborhoods change from one to another, the smells of the cooking or the laundry. You'll hear things you didn't hear from your car, see things you never noticed.

You never really know a road until you've ridden it on a bicycle.