I love to ride my bike and often manipulate my schedule so that I can
pedal at least twice a week.  This time of year can be tricky to get
out in the afternoons because the days are short and the long shadows
come quickly.  But today I was able to time the day perfectly and was
out my front door on my bike just in time to catch the last few hours
of good light.

Since taking up bicycling, I have learned so much about my community.  I have learned that no matter where I travel from my house, I am required to go up or to go down.  I live in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada in Northern California.  Choosing to turn right today, I am traveling west and, this time of year, directly into the slowly sinking sun.  As I glide through the final stoplight at the top at the crest of a hill, I can see the foothills rolling down to the flatland of the Sacramento Valley.  It is so clear, I can see all the way to the coast range.

But, on a bike, down never really means down.  The roads undulate so that, although I am enjoying the freedom and speed a descent offers, it does not last long.  At the bottom of the gully, the road turns up again and I am forced to shift in order to maintain my speed.  The turn uphill isn’t anything I would have even noticed in a car, but on two wheels using my legs to power me, I am very aware of any small changes in gradient.