You never know where the road will lead you...

I'm here in Chicago for a conference... have some down time, and I started to reflect on the bike ride I took this past Saturday.

The bike ride was supposed to be for 45 miles. Admittedly, I intended to do 60 miles... 3 loops on the Three Bears route (sorry coach). Now the "Three Bears" is a route near my house that happens on Bear Creek Road that has three monster climbs, baby bear, mama bear, and papa bear.

It was getting late in the day, and every excuse in my head was coming up why the 2nd loop should be my last. "I'm tired." "The workout said 45 miles." I don't know why, but I went ahead and started the 3rd loop. No particular reason.

Along the way, at Papa Bear, a runner stopped me. He had apparently gotten lost on the trails, and had gotten turned around. He hurt his knee, and his mother was waiting for him a few miles up the road. It was a good 4 miles for him to run, but he looked like he was in no shape to run. It was getting dark too. I told him that I would go ahead and find his mother and have her pick him up.

I went around for awhile, until I finally did find his mother. It all ended up well for him, and I did 60 miles.

What would have happened if I didn't do that 3rd loop? So I guess the point of the story is... Finish your workouts!