6,860 miles - It is all about the journey
Journey or destination? A friend once told me all runs should be about the journey and not the destination.
She and I were part of a group of weekend cyclists who would spend our days barreling through Manhattan, Hudson and Bergen Counties. My friend enjoyed each ride for the views and sights presented to us. She would prefer to ride 'leisurely' for maximum sightseeing. This, of course, angered the majority who would much rather race through the course and get to the destination as fast as possible. I subscribed to this philosophy. Whether on the twisting roads of route 9 or the canyons of Manhattan, our runs did take us through prime city-scapes and numerous photo-op locales. Occasionally our group would participate in organized events with public roads closed to traffic. Talk about photo-ops! The FDR sure looks different when it is overtaken by hundreds of cyclists, and the Verranzano Narrows Bridge seems to ascend forever when staring from behind the handle-bars of a 21-speed. But as mentioned, I am about the destination; which means keeping up with the group, paying close attention to immediate surroundings and of course, cycling fast.
Tomorrow I will take my MINI on its first MINI-run; a one hundred+ mile drive through route 125 in eastern Pennsylvania. This is a very scenic course, even more so now with fall foliage peaking. So as I sit in my hotel room blogging away today's non-event, I can not help but think about the endless debates my now-defunct cycling group had regarding journey vs destination.
I have travelled one hundred twenty miles and endured horrendous construction and accident traffic on route 78 to get to where I am tonight, and tomorrow morning as I drop the clutch and join roughly forty other MINI maniacs on this run, I will once again ask myself... journey or destination?
motor on...
Journey or destination? A friend once told me all runs should be about the journey and not the destination.
She and I were part of a group of weekend cyclists who would spend our days barreling through Manhattan, Hudson and Bergen Counties. My friend enjoyed each ride for the views and sights presented to us. She would prefer to ride 'leisurely' for maximum sightseeing. This, of course, angered the majority who would much rather race through the course and get to the destination as fast as possible. I subscribed to this philosophy. Whether on the twisting roads of route 9 or the canyons of Manhattan, our runs did take us through prime city-scapes and numerous photo-op locales. Occasionally our group would participate in organized events with public roads closed to traffic. Talk about photo-ops! The FDR sure looks different when it is overtaken by hundreds of cyclists, and the Verranzano Narrows Bridge seems to ascend forever when staring from behind the handle-bars of a 21-speed. But as mentioned, I am about the destination; which means keeping up with the group, paying close attention to immediate surroundings and of course, cycling fast.
Tomorrow I will take my MINI on its first MINI-run; a one hundred+ mile drive through route 125 in eastern Pennsylvania. This is a very scenic course, even more so now with fall foliage peaking. So as I sit in my hotel room blogging away today's non-event, I can not help but think about the endless debates my now-defunct cycling group had regarding journey vs destination.
I have travelled one hundred twenty miles and endured horrendous construction and accident traffic on route 78 to get to where I am tonight, and tomorrow morning as I drop the clutch and join roughly forty other MINI maniacs on this run, I will once again ask myself... journey or destination?
motor on...
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