Up Hill Both Ways

I am starting to understand my dad better now that I ride my bicycle everywhere. This is for a couple reasons. Number one, my dad religiously rides his bike to work every day of the year, whether the temperature is +42 degrees (celsius) or -42 degrees (celsius), and it doesn't matter if there are three feet of snow on the road or not. Second, my dad always refers to his childhood walk to school as something that is logistically impossible. "Chrissy, I walked 43 miles to school every morning, up hill both ways." is something he would tell us as we complained about sprinting to the bus stop every morning! I used to think he was lying, but I am starting to feel this phenomenon of "up hill both ways" more and more.

In case you haven't noticed, Langley has a few hills. I just happen to live at the top of one of the larger (largest?) hills in the area, so every time I leave the house a new challenge is presented. I have come to the realization that nothing in BC is flat, so this hilly phenomenon in Langley should come as no surprise to me. But I never said I was a quick learner. I recall going cross-country skiing for the first time here, and wondering where the miscommunication happened. It is called "CROSS-country skiing" for a reason. Not "UP country skiing". Someone was just clearly confused when they decided to adopt that sport here.

So, everything is hilly. And it's not only the large hills that I notice ("Large" referring to the hills where my car maxes out at 60 with pedal to the floor (not like that's saying much)). In fact, every slight inclination is noticeable on a bicycle. I feel so in tune with the earth and the roadways. We are one. In fact, sometimes I feel so connected that I consider getting off my bicycle so that my feet can be connected to this roadway even more. These moments of connection and closeness to the roadway always seem to happen at the largest hills, but I don't think there is any connection there ;)