All Fall Down

Well, it happened.

The day I've been dreading, worrying over, and anticipating ever since I started biking.

I fell down.

Before you get too worried, let me just say... I fell in my driveway.

Yep, I was at a complete stop on my bike, and just toppled over. Feet, clipped into my pedals. No way to escape. Stuck to the bike.

I got new bike shoes for Christmas- along with new pedals. You literally clip your shoes into your pedals, so you're attached to the bike. It takes some getting used to- sort of like water skiing- so I've been practicing all week on my friend Stephen's trainer- an indoor spin session of sorts. And today was my first day out on the open road.

And it was SO glorious! I loved every second of it. I "clipped-in" easily. I took off. I was faster than ever before. I really felt "one with the bike," if you know what I mean. Everything just clicked. I felt in-sync, fast, capable, strong. I thought to myself- I'll be unstoppable this race season. I breathed in the beautiful cold air, the sunshine, the sparkling water of the Arkansas River. It was just awesome, to sum it up in a word.

Then, I pulled into my driveway, couldn't "un-clip" fast enough, and- stuck to the bike- just fell over, bike in tow, landing on my right side. Right knee, specifically. I sat in the driveway, holding back tears for a few minutes. I took a good look at my scraped-up knee, made sure my new Northface and running pants didn't get torn in the process.

And, I promptly called my mom. Because I was hurt, and of course you call your mom when you're hurt!

Being the girly-girl that I am, I wanted to cry. My heart was racing. A part of my brain said, OUCH, this hurts, back away. And the other part of me- the budding athlete, the girl that wants so badly to be a fierce competitor- was sort of proud. My first "bike injury."

Even though I was literally going.... zero miles per hour.

Falling down, getting back up. Getting back in the saddle. It's just like riding a bike. All of the cliches are, of course, running through my head.

And the writer in me can't help but say- yes, of course. This is the perfect way to segue into something that's been on my heart. A feeling that's been rattling around in my head as we gear up, pedal into 2013.

We all fall down. And our bruises and scars make us who we are; make us stronger and better. Sometimes we're on top of the world, smooth sailing, taking in every little and big detail around us. And other times, we're on the ground, eating dirt. Leaves stuck to our new purple Northface.

My goal this year isn't to just get back up. I felt like I did a lot of falling- and rising- in 2012. I know I'll keep pushing on, no matter what.

No, my goal in 2013 is to simply enjoy the view.

Because even the view from the ground looking up is pretty good.