I may be in the (gulp) fifth decade of my life…but I’m still learning some stuff.

For instance–even though I seem to be an entirely different person from whom I was 35 years ago….I still have SOME of the same tastes.
Perfect example: creme horns. They are still dang good. Same goes for hot fudge sundaes from McDonalds (no nuts extra fudge). Don’t judge.
However….Bubbalicious bubble gum does NOT recreate a blissful childhood taste when you’re an adult. It’s just nasty.

Another thing I just “relearned” recently, is that going out for a bike ride can be…well…FUN.
It seems that the only reason I’d climbed on my bike in the last few years was for exercise. When my legs were tired from running and I knew I need to do something to justify the dessert, I’d hop on the bike and head to the gravel trail near our house to get a quick workout done.

I headed out to do that not too long ago, but this time I tried something different.
You see, I have just recently gotten my first pair of wireless ear buds (again, don’t judge). They are life changing. I can clean out a whole closet and have a much-needed conversation with my best college friend and not have a crick in my neck! Safety wise it’s not so good to plug them into both ears and head outside, but if I have just one in and it’s not turned up too high and I’m in a safe area I don’t feel too worried about it. So this time around, before I put on my helmet (yup, I’m totally a safety-first nerd) I put in the ear buds and some random songs began accompanying my ride.

Mind blowing.
No joke.

Instead of just trying to get the ride over with, I found myself actually pedaling in time with the music. In fact, if you were out there that day, I’ll go ahead and apologize for singing out loud to certain parts of certain songs (and if you’ve never heard anyone totally out of breath trying to eke out the harmony to Indigo Girls…you’ve missed nothing!).

Truth? It was so fun! I was smiling and doing that side-to-side head dance thing and probably burning more calories than I would have without the music! I had such a good time I went again later that week too! Yeah, it was exercise, but it was also a relaxing kind of stress relief. I’m totally making it a part of my normal routine (when it is warm enough yet not too hot!). Trying to fit a daily work-out into my life has become a necessity, both for my health and sanity. Life has become so busy though, that a daily dose of joy isn’t something I purposefully make time for. I know that’s sad, and we should probably explore it in a later blog entry, but for now I’m just thrilled to have found something that does both.

Anyway, here’s my mini playlist from my new joyriding technique. I’m sure there are others out there that are good to pedal to and make your heart smile at the same time….and I would LOVE to hear suggestions to add to mine! This would probably work for walking or running too….but I KNOW I don’t have enough breath to sing while I run. Good for y’all that can do that (aimed at my sweet sister-in-law who can run backwards and have a full meaningful conversation at the same time!), but I’ll stick to pedaling for now. Please please please add to the list, and then either get out there and enjoy the crazy beautiful weather, or store these songs up for a beautiful spring day!

(Oh, and in Closer to Fine, if you’re on a bike, it is totally mandatory to stand up on your pedals like a 10-year-old when they say “Stand up for the look-out“.)

Closer to FIne (Indigo Girls)
Back Home (Andy Grammer)
Southern Nights (Glen Campbell)
Solsbury Hill (Peter Gabriel)
America’s Sweetheart (Elle King)
Birdhouse In Your Soul (They Might be Giants)
America (Simon and Garfunkel)
The River (Jordan Feliz)
Good to Be Alive (Andy Grammer)
End of the Line (Traveling Wilburys)