All Caught Up

On the return leg of a post-work ride, another cyclist rode up beside me at a light. I gave my customary “hey,” thereby acknowledging his existence and fishing for a read on how gun-ho he would be when the light changed to green. Much to my surprise, the response was “Hi Julie.” I immediately recognized his voice to be that of Mark, a dear friend and ex-boss. Mark commutes to work 4 times each week — 30 miles in each direction. As intimidating as that is, I really wanted to get caught up on the goings on in his life.

When the light shone green, he took off and I, seizing the moment. I kicked it into high gear and peddled madly so as to stay with him. Chatting as we went, we kept the quick pace as light after light signaled us to keep going. The streak of green lights was jaw-dropping long and my legs were starting to feel the confirmatory burn that signals a killer workout. It was awesome.

When we were all done catching up on life and business, we snapped the all-important photo, and went our separate ways. Still caught up in the moment, I rode off feeling all-inspired, and purposely passed my turn for a few more miles of steep hills — just because.