Top (Biking) Gear

My favorite television show is "Top Gear," a British series about car, mostly high end cars. It's sort of "Car and Driver" meets "Mad" magazine.

One of the things that hooked me on the show was when when of the hosts tests a high-end Ferrari and is screaming down a track at 150 mph, there's a display of true joy.

I figured that I would probably never experience that sort of thrill. After all, these yahoos are driving Mercedes, Jaguars and BMWs, all powered by engines that could provide electricity for most medium-sized cities. The cost of these vehicles exceed the economies of most countries on this planet.

Unless there's some dramatic turn of fate, I'll never be able to afford such a vehicle, and until yesterday, I've resigned myself to never feeling that sort of rush. You, know, the feeling that you are in charge of machine that's at the cutting edge.

But yesterday I got a new bicycle. Sure, it sound ridiculous to compare a bike to a Ferrari, but as soon as I got on this machine, and rode it around the block, I understood why the Top Gear guys get carried away with their hooting and hollering and their twisted, over the top metaphors.

As I took this bike out for a shake down ride into the hills northeast of Wausau, I completely got it. I wanted to yell. It was like riding a rocket, and at the same time it was so comfortable and smooth that I felt like was flying. I'm not sure how this could be. But there it is.

So although I am trying to build my life on something other than things, this is one thing that has opened a new door to me. And wow, it felt good to go for a ride.