Driving North, Letting Go

One of my favorite things about road trips is leaving it all behind.  I always set out on a trip with the anticipation of a new place or an old familiar place, a fresh landscape to breathe in, different faces, and a step out of the routine.  As we drove north to Hayward, the Northern Wisconsin pines were on my mind.  I couldn't wait to greet them.  The late October colors still burned brightly in many places and a whole weekend was ahead of us.

One of the great things about Hayward is their extensive access to biking trails, really nice biking trails.  The Chequamegon Area Mountain Bike Association (CAMBA) maintains over 300 mapped routes zigzagging through 1600 miles of Chequamegon-Nicolet Forest areas.  I'm not a mountain biker so the single track trails were challenging and just really heart-pumping fun. The surprising thing was that the biggest challenge was off the single track trail.

Did I mention a healthy dose of fear was involved?

You can venture off the single track trails onto wider hiking/biking trails with wide open hills.  I know regular bikers would consider this nothing.  But I had the same feeling I get at the top of a hill when I'm cross-country skiing.  What if I fall, what if I can't do it? The thing about going fast is you lose some control. You lose some control, I said.  For all that I like spontaneity and adventure and new things, I do like my control. I stood at the top of that hill, straddling my bike.  What if I fall? Take a deep breath. Just do the thing.  I let go of a little of that control.  And I let myself fly down. I opened. And it was nice.

Meanwhile my husband just pumped up and down those hills seemingly effortlessly.

And the rest of the weekend just slowly unfolded before us.  I tried to keep a hold of that open place.

Some of us have to try harder than others. I just have to keep standing at the top of that hill.

Thanks, Hayward. We enjoyed your muskies, your bike trails and your pie.