My husband, Cory, and I just got back from what we're calling the "Tour of Colorado". We left town last Friday with a loose plan of what we'd do. We might come back Monday, or we might come back Tuesday. We might go to Crested Butte. We might hang out in Denver. It all depended on how we felt.
We knew that Cory would ride the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic from Durango to Silverton, and then we'd drive to Fruita for him to mountain bike. Somewhere along the way, we'd find a place where I could ride my bike too. And Cory thought maybe I could use part of the trip as a work retreat, because I love that sort of thing.
We loaded up three bikes, our gear, and my work bag and headed out. We ended up going to Durango, Silverton, Ouray, Fruita, Vail, Denver, and Colorado Springs.
We did zero work. Zero. Well... that's not exactly true. I talked about every coworking space we saw, probably way more than Cory wanted me to. At one point, I picked up a business book I'd brought. I read one chapter.
And the trip was perfect. We rode bikes, and laughed, and ate lots of ice cream. (Cream Bean Berry in Durango is my all-time favorite ice cream shop. Try the triple berry crumble. It's the best.) We aired up our car tire with a bicycle pump. One night at dinner, we toasted to the ease of 25 years together, and being able to leave our kids at home. (Even though I called them every day and made them text me when they got home each night.)
We talked a lot about our good friend Mark, who died suddenly in 2022. Cory and Mark had done the Iron Horse together, as well as lots of other bicycle adventures. He'd always wanted Cory to ride the mountain bike trails in Fruita with him, but they never got the chance. Everywhere we went, we were reminded of Mark, and the legacy of kindness and competitiveness he left behind.
We came back better. Full of energy and new ideas. Ready to tackle some things we've been putting off for too long.
It all made me think about the grind of the day-to-day, the way our regular lives are full of little fires to be put out, but also structure and schedules. Sometimes it's important to step out of that, to breathe and stretch our muscle in different ways-- both figuratively and literally. We grow through rest just as much as we grow through action. In the words of Ralph Marston, "Rest when you're weary. Refresh and renew yourself, your body, your mind, your spirit. Then get back to work."
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