As a half-marathon runner, it was all about getting faster. I have to shake my head when I think about all those 12-15 mile training runs in the hot Phoenix sun, miserable and sometimes sicker than a dog. It took cancer to wake me up and slow me down.. Now I am hooked on mountain biking, where I can explore more territory than I ever could running, and have alot more fun. My riding buddy used to work at a wildlife rescue facility, and now is a geology student, and we frequently stop to look at things in the desert. Sometimes when I'm by myself on the road bike,I catch myself in that old speed groove, trying to go faster, maintain a certain average pace. I have to remind myself to relax, look at what's going on around me, come back to the world. For me, that's what is so great about riding, whether on the road or off on the trails: riding brings me into the present, the "eternal now."