My Favorite Mailbox

On this first day of Autumn, I went on a ride to visit a good friend of mine. I met this friend in the Spring when I first started getting back into cycling. At the time, I was on my old hybrid. I was seeking an ever growing bike route around my home as my leg muscles strengthened and allowed me to ride further and further. During one such route extension, I encountered the hill on Morse Road in Sudbury for the first time. It is a deceptive hill. The first part is not very steep but goes on for a good distance, at the time, completely taking my breath away. After a very short flat section, nowhere near enough to catch my breath, there is a short but (at the time for me) extremely steep section which absolutely killed me. The first several times I did this route I had to walk my bike up the hill. Eventually, I got strong enough to ride up the hill. It was then that I met my good friend - the mailbox at 135 Morse Road. Once I got to this mailbox - I knew I made it.

I then decided I was enjoying cycling enough to buy a 'real' bike. I talked to a friend who recommended getting a recumbent. I did my research and decided that a recumbent was definitely the right choice for me. However, with my new recumbent, I was once again walking up to my favorite mailbox. I eventually became brave enough to try clipless pedals for the first time ever. Determined that I could make it up the Morse Road hill now that I had so much more pedal power, I refused to 'unclip' before the hill. I got most of the way up before losing momentum. It was in the process of trying to unclip when I jerked the bike too hard and fell, splat, onto the pavement. (I think this was the second time I broke my mirror. There have been several other times but that will be a story for another post.) It took a while for me to get up that hill confidently and the mailbox at 135 Morse Road was always the goal.

Today I did my ride again after having been riding my recumbent for over four months. I no longer give even a little bit of a thought about whether or not I am going to be able to pedal up to my favorite mailbox. Instead, I make bets with myself on how fast I can do it and in which gear I'll do it in. (It's amazing what a season of a lot of riding will do.) But still, when I get to the top of that hill, I always smile fondly at what has become my favorite mailbox of all time.

If you ever do my route, and I hope that you will, give a nod to the mail box at 135 Morse Road as you ride by. And then, I wish you no cars in either direction and enough chutzpah to take the steep S-curve that follows without hitting your brakes.

Woooooooooooooooo Hoooooooooooooooooo!!!

On to a new season of biking adventure.

Happy Fall!!