Stillness

It’s been a minute since I last wrote about my bike adventures, and that’s because, well, there haven’t been many.

Shortly after my Waterton Canyon ride, I headed up to Golden for a saunter up Lookout Mountain. It was a beautiful 70*F day, and it seemed that everyone was out riding bikes.

Lookout Mountain is another accessible climb in the metro area – 4.5 miles with 1,270′ climbing with an average of 5% grade. The steepest part is the first mile and the short switchbacks further up the road. I took my time and some pictures going up. The last time I’d ridden this (and the first time ever) was during the Golden Gran Fondo back in 2018. It was fun to revisit this climb and remember what it felt like the first time (and how much different it felt nearly 8 years and loads of climbing experience later).

I continued past the Grave of Buffalo Bill and continued through a quiet residential area to the true top, which is the Lookout Mountain Nature Center and Preserve before heading north on US 40 to cross over the interstate. I-70 has a really beautiful view as you begin to head into the mountains. I didn’t know this, but there is a resident buffalo herd near that interchange! A wonderful downhill rewarded my efforts before I turned back to head over a short but steep hill to the top of Lookout and then back down the Mountain.

Since then, it’s mostly been short rides around town. For the first time since college, we live within 5 miles of the places we frequent: library, bike shop, restaurants, breweries, multi-use trails, hair stylists, massage therapists, doctors, and the vet. So it’s incredibly easy to hop on my Ogre to run errands, go out to eat, and just enjoy the day.

There’s also the obligatory structured workouts on TrainerRoad, daily dog walks, and lifting weights a few days a week. I’m still trying to figure out how to work yoga into my lift regularly.

But back to the real topic – stillness.

I had a bad cold for the second time in four months, which is never fun but an opportunity to cultivate a practice of stillness.

Since 2020 COVID times, I’ve been incrementally working to slow my life down. It started with adding more gentle, slow, meditative yoga classes and has gradually expanded to reducing my personal obligations to only those that resonate and nourish my soul. One of my favorite yoga practices is yoga nidra – a guided relaxation while fully supported with props for 45 minutes. At first, I didn’t think I could be still that long – but now, I relish how deeply restorative deep rest is. At the end of the session, it feels like my body is breaking through dried clay to be refreshed.

But it’s not just yoga practice – it’s hearing our body say, “I crave stillness.”

I was reminded of how delicious stillness is this morning, as I lay half-asleep in my bed, the gentle hum of the humidifier and the comforting weight of my dogs next to me. To have the luxury of consciousness and awareness without having to open my eyes to see. A few more minutes of complete relaxation in safety and comfort before awakening to the obligations that await us.

We shouldn’t need to be sick to take time to really rest and restore our bodies.