The weekend, actually the week has been all about bikes. Bike riding. Bike cleaning. Bike racing planning. Reading about bikes. Talking about bikes. Hanging out with bike riding friends. Bikes. Bikes. Bikes.

To say that this is a good thing would be an understatement. It is not often that we’re lucky to find “something” that grabs us and captivates us 100%. The bike is it for me. It has gifted me so many opportunities, so much freedom and the reward of learning more about myself.

On each training ride these days I’m learning to appreciate the feeling of my body responding to my efforts. I think the last two years of illness and injury have finally sunk in. I finally realize how fortunate I am to have a body that will do what I want it to do. Perspective is a powerful thing and the challenge is to make the most of this perspective.

On Sunday I rode out to the Gatineau Park to connect with a friend who I first met way back in 1995 and had lost contact with but over the last six months or so we’ve reconnected. So very refreshing. Even better was meeting two new people on the Sunday ride around the hills of the Gatineau Park. We were all connected by a passion for the two-wheeler and getting outside to enjoy it all. Somehow the hills seemed less steep and the grass, leaves, trees and sky seemed that much more brilliant. Riding home along the bicycle path bordering the Ottawa River there were all sorts of folks out enjoying the afternoon sun – wobbly little kids on rollerblades, joggers, walkers, a family building sand castles at Kitchissippi Beach, and lots of cyclists. Before I knew it I was home and frankly I wished I’d done that second loop – the bike riding ended too soon for me.

I write often here about luck, fortune, community, and chasing your dreams. Some days I feel like I’m beating a broken drum but just like the wheels keep rolling on my bike, so too do my dreams, goals, wishes, good luck, and fortune. The bike is my “something” and whatever your “something” is – be thankful you have it. Keep those wheels turning – you just never know where they’ll take you or what they’ll gift you.