hill seeker.

Bring on the hills.

Sure, flats can be fun, but you can always see what’s up front. And, what’s the enjoyment, the excitement, in that if you ride ’em all the time?

On the hills – oh, the hills! – you never know what surprises await at the summit.

My most memorable bike rides involve hills. Despite the altitude, the 30-miler through Colorado’s Garden of the Gods. Pedaling a one-speed cruiser – while wearing chartreuse Hunters – over Vancouver’s Burrard Street bridge (ok, it’s not really a big hill, but only having one gear made it harder than you’d think) to Kitsilano. My first century – with only 400 miles on my legs that season – along the rollers of the mighty Mississippi. The thrill of Birchwood’s Wednesday night Saint Paul hill ride.

And, in my life… all the awesome has been on the hills. Recent highlights… moving to a city where I didn’t know a single soul … the climb of grad school lead me to lifelong girl friends … and, on the flip side – the fun, fast coast down, diploma in hand – there was Nick.

It’s the flats in between those hills, that while comfortable and relatively effortless, that leave me longing for a little elevation adjustment, a cadence change, a heart rate uptick, a little lung burn, a new perspective.

Temporarily painful perhaps, but you’re always, always, rewarded if you power through to the peak – both on the bike and in life.

So, ask yourself: Hill seeker or flat finder?