suh weet

this afternoon i took a spin around the neighborhood on my bike. over the weekend i was hit with a serious desire to roll around somewhere. this was interesting to me because i rarely get a huge urge to ride my bike - i haven't had nice ones long enough to know that i think i will like it better than running. i guess if you spend enough money and get yourself some cancer... anyway. i knew today was supposed to be a winner of a day and i wasn't disappointed. jimnerd and mom joined me to usher in the toxins and following three hours or so up there we were ready to make a break for it. we beelined it for the trucks selling all sorts of bad-for-me-but-oh-so-tasty-and-i-can't-say-no-today food. they set up each day outside the hospital and we hadn't tried them out in our more than five months of frequenting the place. i settled on a chicken gyro. i scoped out the grill and it didn't look too greasy, and that cucumber sauce was exactly the right remedy for what i was craving. top it off with a couple, just a few potato chips (yesterday WAS my birthday, afterall) and lots of water and i was set. the sun felt like heaven on my head and it was so nice to sit and laugh and watch the world go by. i had to pay some dues down in the radiation dungeon, waiting for treatment, as my technician had also gone to lunch, but just when i was sick of waiting it was time to get zapped. and we were on our way out into the most beautiful day of spring so far.

the ride home took forever today, mostly because all i could think about was getting on my bike while i still felt like i had the energy to do so. i wasn't fooling anyone - i donned my favorite cargo shorts and a comfy t-shirt and headed out. nothing fast or in training about me. some air in the tubes and i was ready to go.

there's something to be said about riding a bike. i have always loved it. my grandpa took my training wheels off when i was five or six; mom and dad were on vacation and jimnerd and i got to stay with he and grandma for the week. i had a sweet red schwinn and the training wheels had red on them as well. as the week progressed i felt more and more brave, and so did grandpa, i think. he finally took one off, then the other, and before i knew it i was coasting all over the hill outside the front yard and rolling along the side streets. in time, my cousins and brother, father, and grandparents would make rides down to the lakes of minneapolis and ride around the beautiful trails there. riding a bike is just about as close to skiing as i can get. and with my new taste for warmer weather i have the bug. too bad about that other bug, good thing it is only temporary.

riding my bike i felt happier than i have in a long time - a different happy, like when i was skiing in utah before my surgery. and believe me, i was barely even pushing the pedals. the wind was warm and my bike feels like it is part of me and i just rolled along and along, so glad to be out and about. it was well worth the wait and well worth the work i had to do to get there. i am psyched to do it again soon. fresh air in the lungs and sun in my eyes. life is so good.