{"id":573886536,"date":"2014-07-05T23:24:55","date_gmt":"2014-07-06T04:24:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kennysmith.org\/wordpress\/?p=573886536"},"modified":"2014-07-09T23:39:18","modified_gmt":"2014-07-10T04:39:18","slug":"this-car-makes-jumps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kennysmith.org\/wordpress\/blog\/2014\/07\/05\/this-car-makes-jumps\/","title":{"rendered":"This car makes jumps"},"content":{"rendered":"

The world around you is one of the things a bicycle teaches you about. Things look different. Terrain is different. You come to understand that those aren’t two hills, but really one hill you approach from multiple directions. <\/p>\n

The most important thing I have learned, so far, is that it has taught me not to judge. You never know what someone is going through, which is the personification of the “Walk a mile in my shoes” concept, which is writ large in my head every time I’m struggling to top a hill. Those people driving those cars don’t know, I tell myself. <\/p>\n

Some of them probably do, but the point is that it can be hard. <\/p>\n

Another important thing the bike teaches you is about more roads. Eventually you start looking for new routes, new challenges, new approaches to that same hill. I found some of those today, in part because I saw a neat road name on a map. The road is about four miles from our house and I’ve passed it dozens of times on my bike alone. But playing with cycling routes on a map led me to answering the question “What’s down there?” The answer was a private driveway. <\/p>\n

And this:<\/p>\n

\"General<\/center><\/p>\n

Had a difficult with the new shoes. They, surprise, didn’t feel right for most of the ride today, but I figured it out as soon as I got home and took them off. And it was an easy fix. Hopefully that will be taken care of today. <\/p>\n

I went through three new neighborhoods today, though, and two of them I’ll return to again. The third featured a bad stretch of road that overruled the two extra rides up that same hill mentioned above. In just over half of the distance I climbed more than I will in next weekend’s triathlon. And, with that and the time trialing I did yesterday, I will begin to taper off the workouts. <\/p>\n

Tapering, like I have a training plan. Like I’m an athlete. <\/p>\n

Aside from the pretending, I do not know what is happening. <\/p>\n

Things to read<\/strong> … so you’ll know what is happening. <\/p>\n

The best thing you’ll read today: A Janitor\u2019s Ten Lessons in Leadership<\/a><\/p>\n

Rare, Remarkable Maps Trace America\u2019s Path to Independence<\/a><\/p>\n

Roger Simon: America’s glorious failures<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2018Flying Farmer\u2019 recalls WWII service<\/a><\/p>\n

Total US Ad Spending to See Largest Increase Since 2004<\/a><\/p>\n

Guardian Australia: lessons in online-only publications<\/a><\/p>\n

Have I mentioned I need a drone? I need a drone. <\/p>\n