Brady's Special Bike Ride

52 Stories in 52 Weeks: ## 18 Brady’s Special Bike Ride

By: Mr. George D. Patnoe., Jr.'s Ambidextrous Brain + Mind.

Brady the bike rider, always sensed the danger of habitually riding his bike almost every other day, even as he sneakily caught the glares of all those older gentleman who normally left their bicycles somewhere in their childhood memories. The two dangers was real enough. The first danger of crashing into a road or by getting hit by a speeding car seemed less physical than the second danger of being gossiped about by the grow up men who had probably never rode a bike throughout their whole lifetime, but who might have dodged bullets for America’s freedom. ‘How could they remember the thrill of a childhood’s freedom after they had experienced the bloody and deadly hell of the major worlds of long ago?’ Brady would ask himself. Nor would they have risked their lives with the dangers of riding a bike on roads and streets that were built for cars and trucks; so they would stay home, only to watch Brady habitually ride his bike pass their homes, almost every other day.

To see the stares of men who had long ago forgotten or who had never known the spirit of freedom: because they had never rode a bike to explore their childhood neighborhoods or because of the belief of being old, of dying of death. Bray saw the stiffness in their bodies as they worked on their cars in their front yards, along with the stiffness of their minds. But Brady’s body and mind were not stiff. Brady could also hear the silent whispers of those whose people who had never caught the thrill of the wind on their skin, or who had not felt the speed in their night dreams. Therefore, they could not began to know why Brady would ride his bike for the fun if it. Yet, as Brady grew older, he had consciously had kept a tiny part of his childhood as a reminder that youth can still be part of one’s soul, a soul that knows nothing of age and gray hair. But there was more to the spirit of an adventurous child’s spirit besides hopping onto the bike’s seat to explore the neighborhood, to seek out new foods, new games, new friends, even nature’s life.

Brady would carefully normally dressed up in his bike uniform to make his bike ride an official statement of purpose. In his mature years, he normally wore an old pair of very pocketed shorts, and a white tee shirt, and an old pair of sneakers, and a yellow wind breaker and a yellow helmet. But in his younger years, he would have normally worn official bike clothes; black tights under biking shorts to protect his butt from the bike seat, a very bright yellow bike shirt to be seen by car drivers, bike gloves to protect his hands if he fell on the street, and a bike helmet to protect his skull and brain. It was a biking uniform for himself and for those who saw him peddling down the street.

Putting on the bike uniform prepared him mentally for the seemingly simple act of peddling down the street or path, but Brady knew that a split second could change his whole life, forever. So many quick decisions to be made when one is riding a bike, just as when one is driving a car, or trading a stock in the stock market, or when opening one’s mouth to speak a word to people who do not understand the real purpose of America’s freedom. Many bikers have experienced that single fraction of a second, when they knew that their bones were going to be crushed by a crash; as if their fleshy bodies were being thrown over the handle bars just as a piece of jelly would be tossed out a car’s window, to spat on the hard street, or a sharp rock, or even into a moving car. Brady knew that even the three pound brain could not disobey the laws of physics, even if the spirit of freedom ruled his invisible soul. Of course, because Brady truly knew something about his own spiritual life; along with the spiritual life of the universe. His understanding of the higher laws of life would overcome even the so-called laws of physics, and even death itself. What a funny thing was that concept of death! Two thousand years ago, a man named Jesus laughed at death too; to prove to the world that there is no death, but people still believe in death, instead of eternal life. Brady understood something about eternal life, but he was not ready to stop breathing just yet.

Each time Brady lifted his bike or walked it out the wooded door, his mental defenses automatically rose to a higher level, to a level of the Boy Scouts Motto, ‘Be Prepared.’ Brady realized that the Boy Scout Motto was meant for camping when he camped as a boy scout, with his dad and brother. But he knew that the greatest of all warriors have to be prepared for times of battle, even for the simple battles of life. Nevertheless, Brady knew that being prepared against others was at times, nothing compared to being prepared against one’s own decisions in life, especially when he was racing down a hill at 65 miles an hour; with the laws of physics in front of him, a hopeful prayer inside him, with life around him, death riding next to him, and angels flying over him. To make decisions when your speed and time are constantly changing is a tricky business. When all you see in front of you is the hard, cold, and dull cement or paved road speeding by you, as you are making decisions as if you were a fighter jet pilot, but without the safety of air to gently parachute you to the ground.

One of Brady’s favorite streets to ride on was located on the edge of a very long lake. The road split into Y, when Brady always had to choose between going left or going right. Riding the right road of the Y meant Brady would get to see the people partying at their boat houses and cottages; along with the sailboats and speed boats floating on the lake water. The warm sun would be heating up the air with just the correct temperature, a perfect warm between hot and cold. The dream temperature when a person is not really aware of the difference between hot and cold because the air was perfectly warm. Brady always took the right road in the Y because he liked the perfect warm temperature of the road, neither to hot or to cold. He also like the speed of the road, neither to fast or to slow. But the weather never stays at the perfect temperature forever, and neither does a bike ride. As the old saying goes, ‘Only a storm truly makes a sailor.’ or paraphrased, ‘Only a real bike ride makes a biker.’

As Brady rode his bike on that paved street, he always looked at the left road in the road’s Y. The problem with this road was that it led to the upward bound road of a tall and very steep mountain; a road with a struggle. As a matter of fact, Brady could not even see the top of this mountain, nor behind the first ten feet of the road. ‘A mysterious road!’ thought Brady; because he had no idea what kind of curves or how high it was. And more importantly, Brady deeply questioned if he could peddle his bike all the way to the top of the mountain, without quitting. (An ego issue) Brady had passed that left road in the fork of the road so many times, because he was partly worried that he might not make it to the top. But more important than that, he knew how much energy it would take to get to the top of this very high and long windy road which lead to the top of the mountain. But he also knew, in the depth of his mind, that he would be facing death when he raced down the mountain. Brady did not even know if the scene at the top of the mountain was even worth the bike ride.

Sometimes our life decisions and goals in life are like that. We see a new personal goal that we think might led to a better life, but we forget the new goal because we know that itmight be hard work, maybe even painful work. And we do not know if all of our hard work will be worth it at the end. As a matter of fact, sometimes we just see all of the hard work without seeing the end result because we do not know what the end result will be, at the end. The end of what? Yet, every ending is a new beginning to something new!

Brady had passed the road so many times, that he began to get tired of passing it. There it was, a sight of ten feet of road before it disappeared into a curve with trees and bushes on both sides of the road. The road disappeared into a curve that pointed up to a steeper angle. Brady thought to himself that it was just so much easier to peddle down the straight away lake road, instead peddling up the mountain road. How many times do we have to make a decision in our lives, to take the easy way or the hard way. How many people take the easy path in life because they do not want to work, or they are scared to fail, or even to succeed. How many people just want to breath, like the trees and bushes on the side of the road.

But Brady just knew that he had no choice! That one day he was going to bike ride up that unknown mountain road, because it was there to ride. Brady thought to himself, ‘If I get exhausted, if I have to quit, I can always stop and turn around go back down the hill. Then, I can try again another day.’ But he knew, he really knew, that once he started to peddle up that mountain, there was no stopping, no going back, no quitting for any reason; unless he was hit by a car or truck, in which case he would be riding down the hill in an ambulance. Of course, there were other possibilities as well. Like if his heart gave out!

So many times before, Brady had looked at ten feet of road with no end in sight, except of the invisible sight of the climb. He could not see the climb, but he knew it was there, like a life teaser which is begging you to try a new path in your life; almost like those tv information commercials, ‘Need an exercise machine? Just send in your $300 and we will send you an exercise bike for your house, but without the lake.’ Why not buy a real bike? thought Brady. But he knew that sometimes an exercise bike was better than no bike at all, especially to escape biking in really bad weather.

Not once, but every time Brady had passed that first ten feet of road, it ate at him like a mental cancer. He would always pass that first ten feet, opting out for the easy road; the road without the pain, without the struggle. On a Sunday afternoon, why work when you can take the easy path. After all, isn’t that what Sunday afternoons are for, to relax and not to work? A warm, sunny Sunday afternoon with sail boats on the lake, with people visiting their summer houses and their summer cottages. Happy people who are so happy because they are not wearing their business suits, or their blue collar work clothes, and more importantly, working people who are happy to be with their families, the payoff for all of their hard work. Brady like to feel that happiness on the weekends. He did not want to feel the pain in his legs and in his lungs and in his brain. He would be very happy as he rode along the happy road, as if that happy lake road was normally better than the lonely and painful ride up the hill.

Life is like that too! We see everyone having fun, and we want to have fun too. Few people want to take the lonely road which will lead them away from the fun times, especially if pain and loneliness was pointing to an unseen end result. But every time Brady had passed by the first ten feet of the road, he would always wonder to himself, as he peddled along the happy road, ‘I wonder what is at the top of the mountain? What kind of view will be there, at the end of long path of struggle up a seemingly invincible mountain road?

But he knew what was at the end of the happy road. There was an old country store with food, drinks, ice cream, and other goodies. That was the pay off for the easy ride. Of course, Brady would have to peddle back home, so he would be burning off of that prized food. He knew that when he arrived home, he would not be winded and sore physically. But, there would be a burning headache that would bug him all week long, even if he was not aware of it during his busy week.

But of course, one Sunday, Brady started out on the normal easy Sunday bike ride, just as he had for a hundred times before. But a funny thing happened. As he peddled towards the Y in front of him, he looked at it and said to himself, ‘What the heck.’ as he turned left instead of right. So as he turned the bike’s handle bars, he had no doubt that he was going to make it to the top of the mountain. ‘The invisible painful headache would be gone one way or another.’ he thought to himself. Brady knew that it would be a Sunday of work instead of pleasure, but so be it. Brady looked down at his eighteen gears and the 1/4 inch wide wheels. His hand reached out to touch the gear shifters, and as he moved them backward, he heard the clicking of the bike’s chain moving from the smallest and hardest gear to the biggest and easiest gear. No going back now!

But no matter! As soon as he turn left, to began the ascent up the mountain road, he started to slow down. His legs began to feel their muscles tighten, just has he began to feel his hands began to tighten around the bike handlebars. His arms’ muscles also tighten because with each downward peddled step, his arms would be also be reacting to the working legs, to control the bike’s wheels from moving side by side. The goal was to keep the front wheel from moving side to side; he wanted to keep it pointed straight as an arrow so he could conserve energy. But of course, with all of that work, Brady’s heart began to beat faster and faster, as it pumped blood fast and faster throughout his body, just as his lungs were pumping oxygen in and out faster and faster. The salty sweat on his skin was beginning to build up. The salty sweat started began to drip into his eyes, causing his eyes to burn, so with one hand on the bike’s handle bars, Brady used the other hand to wipe the burning sweat off his eyes. He used a old cotton tee shirt because it would dry very fast in the hot sunlight. Every fifteen minutes, Brady would grab the plastic water bottle and take a gulp of water. That was the fifteen minute rule. Brady would also splash some water on his head and face too.

For so long, all that Brady could see was the dull black tarred road, along with the tall trees and bushes on both sides of the road. On the left side of the mountain road the trees and bushes went higher because the mountain went higher. But on the right side of the mountain road, the trees and bushes were all under Brady because on the left side of the mountain road was a cliff; a cliff with millions of jagged tree branches facing him with the silent reminder of a painful death There was no room for error because if Brady had fallen off the side of the road, he would be falling down into very steep decline, with pointed tree branches helping to remind him that falling off the road was a terrible mistake. Moreover, the road was darken by the tree’s shadows, but every so often, a patch of sunlight would shine through the a space in the trees, which give Brady a reminder of the sunlight at the top of the mountain.

Once Brady had reached a steady credence, he simply peddled as if he was a human machine, a machine of skins and bones; which to all appearances and purposes, he was a human machine. He had transformed his consciousness to become a human machine of skin and bones, but of mind too. He had temporality recreated his mind to become a strong pumping and pushing machine that would force and push every fiber and every cell and every bone in his body to push down and pull up the bike’s two peddles; the bike’s peddles that would turn the wheels so slowly to move the bike forward in time. In one sense, time did slowed down for Brady, as he focused on his inward mind, his inward consciousness, his inward stillness, to find the inner strength to not quit.

There was little time to think once he began to focus on the task of pumping his legs up and down, and around and around in constant circles, over and over and over again. As his legs began a steady pumping action, his lungs and heart began to settle down too, even though they were working at a higher level now, every part of his body was operating perfectly. Brady would look forward, in a relaxing manner once he knew his mind and body and ego was going to succeed its mission of the long, long climb up the mountain. He sensed that he was lucky with this mountain ride. The angle of the mountain was not steep enough to stop him. Once, a very steep mountain was so steep, meaning that the angle was so high that climbing it was impossible. So he turned around and quickly cruised down the mountain; which of course is very fun, but a very dangerous thing to do.

The ride down that very steeped angle was so fun, but he knew; Brady really knew that one little slip, on a little stone, at the correct angle could wipe him out forever. One rule of down hill riding was to not hit a stone at the wrong angle. So why even bother taking the dangerous risk? Maybe because some humans needed to face death every once in a while, just for the fun of it.

After a forty minute climb, Brady saw the glaring sunlight above his head and as he turned his head, he saw the lake below him, as if it had became smaller. As he turned his head back to the road, the top of the mountain opened up to him because he had reached the mountain’s top. A wide field of yellow wild flowers awaited him. The sun warmed up his body. Brady had reached the mountain’s top, so he slowed down his pace, to ride a short distance, to slow down his heartbeat and to find a place to rest. He saw an old fashion store-restaurant, so he rode up to the old fashion store-restaurant. Brady felt strong as he walked into the old fashion store-restaurant.

As he walked into the old fashion store-restaurant, he saw an old couple who looked like the owners. They looked as if they had no where to go because they loved living on the top of the mountain. They greeted Brady with a ‘Hi.’ and he greeted them back with a ‘Hi.’ He bought a lemon drink and he sat down on the seat of a picnic bench. He took out a pen and a sheet of paper and he wrote on a piece of paper, ‘I loved living. It was a great ride.’ He put the paper in his pocket and he finished his drink. And before his heartbeat slowed down, he hopped on the bike seat and he turned his handle bars towards the mountain’s downward slope. Brady began his descent down the mighty mountain. As he looked down the mountain’s road, he became consciously aware of the known dangers he faced as he sped down the mountain’s road. A stone on the road, a deer running out form the side of the mountain’s wooded forest, or a skunk, or cat, or dog, or squirrel, or a car or truck. But it was Sunday, so if he was lucky, he might be free and safe from seeing a car or truck for the three to five minutes of downhill breakneck speed.

There was no need to peddle. The bike’s wheels began to turn slowly, but not for long. Brady lowered his body closer to the bike frame as he also lowered his head so the air would glide over his bike helmet. Within a few seconds he was racing down the hill so fast, that within thirty seconds, the bike’s speed odometer read 65 miles an hour. As Brady’s body became at one with bike, as the bike’s thin tires rolled on the paved road, as Brady’s brain saw the earth move under him, he realized that he was now playing with the laws of both physics and metaphysics.

While his mind hoped and prayed that he would not hit a tiny stone at the wrong angle, he also had to control the handle bars as the bike moved around one curve, only to curve around to the left and then to the right over and over again. The timing had to be just correct, because he knew that if he wiped out, he would go flying over the side of the cliff, into the tree’s branches, and if anyone did find him, he knew that he probably would be dead. But he knew that since no one knew he had taken the crazy bike ride of the year, they would not even know where to look for him. He now realized that they would never ever look on the side of the mountain’s cliff, so it would be by an accident when someone did find him. Or maybe he would never be found. Brady’s sensed the danger as he traveled 65 miles down the curvy and windy road, but there was no real time to ponder the mysteries of life and death. He faced the thousands of tiny bumps in the road just as a jet fighter pilot would face the bumps in the sky; with a natural ease of movement. There was no other way. A magical oneness with speed!

The trees stood very still as Brady noticed a truck slowly turning a bend in the road. ‘Wow, I thought that I was going to get lucky.’ as he calculated how much space he needed to pass the truck. He knew that he could not depend on the truck missing him, but as he saw the truck driver smile at the unexpected bullet that headed his way, Brady passed him with flying colors.

Then, a real unexpected surprise, a deer was standing on the side of the road. It was eating some grass. ‘Do not move deer.’ thought Brady. The deer looked up as it realized the silent bike bullet was not going to kill him. Brady glided passed the deer. ‘Thank God’ thought Brady.

After the four minute free fall, Brady saw the beginning of the Y and he gently squeezed his bike brakes. That in itself, was a skill. He knew that if he made a mistake with the brakes, he could still crash. Yet, with just enough pressure, he glided to a full stop at the bottom of the mountain.

As Brady began to turn the bike's handle bars to turn around the leveled street corner, the handle bars turned, but the front wheel did not turn. Brady and the bike fell to the street. Brady stood up and looked at the sky, towards the heavens and said out loud, to the God and the angels, 'I guess my time has not run out!'