This morning I decided to ride my new bike I got for Christmas to work instead of driving. I've been saying out loud for about 2 months that since I only live 2 miles from the office I could save on gas and get some necessary exercise.

In preparation for this morning, I took my lap top and other briefcase items I would need to the office yesterday, so I could carry a light backpack with a change of clothes and a brush and hairspray to fix what I knew would be a bad hair day after sporting my very stylish bike helmet.

Fortunately our bike path is right outside of our gated community and I knew it ran behind SCCS right by our offices so I would not have to ride on the Soledad Canyon.

I set out, helmet on my head, backpack on me, with pretty shakey legs.  As I'm riding along I'm thinking to myself, what are the rules of the road?  I know them for driving, but it has been a very long time (and I mean very long) since I've used a bike for practical transportation.

On a bike path there are no signals, not really any intersections, no stop signs (though I did pass a water fountain, which shocked me).  Much to my joy, there was no traffic either.

What I did find was an elderly man walking his dog, a homeless man under the bridge reading a book, a boy about 5 years old (on the otherside of the fence) with his mom and his baby sister in a carrier and last but not least a man walking to work.  Each person that I passed, I said good morning to and smiled as big as I could.  The 5 year old boy said Hi first to me, which of course made me smile.

The only thing I did not plan for was there was no exit or opening near SCCS to allow me to cut up Luther to the offices.  This I did not plan for.  I stopped, surveyed the situation and even contemplated climbing over the fence and trying to lift my bike over.  Trust me that thought passed quickly.  I began to pedal further down the path till I saw an opening, that went into the mobile home park right past the theaters.  I took the opportunity, rode through the park till I found a street that came out onto Soledad. I was relieved when I saw a signal.

I sucessfully arrive at our offices, took my bike in, changed into non sweaty clothes (that way everyone in the office would still want to be around me! :) )  and began my day.

It felt like the first day of Kindergarten in a way.  I learned that you can plan and anticipate only so much, so you need to remain flexible!  Smiling goes a long way, I should try that while I'm driving in a car and last but not least, saying good morning to people you pass, not only will make you smile, but them as well!  It may be the only smile they receive the entire day!

I can't wait till my ride home!

Pastor Julie