Much as physical milestones represent the passage of miles on the road, in the more abstract form, milestones also represent the passage of events in life.
Graduation from high school, the birth of a child, marriage, a much anticipated promotion. All milestones that measure some kind of transition from one part of life to another. Then, for many people at work, there are the dreaded milestones on a schedule that represent the unrelenting workload ahead. And heaven forbid that we should start to fall behind schedule because the usual result is that we implement a set of INCH-stones so that we can be measured closer and more often. More stress; more overtime, but yet again, more opportunity for advancement.
Then, of course, there are milestones that represent personal achievements. I can remember the first time I did a half century. When I set out for a ride, my intended route was nowhere near 50 miles. My previous longest ride had been around 35 miles a couple weeks before. While on the ride, I decided to check out a road I hadn’t been on before. The road was flat; and with a slight wind at my back, before I knew it I was all the way to the thriving metropolis of Speedsville, over 25 miles from home. Still feeling strong, I turned for home and encountered the effects Zephyrus, the Greek god of wind, directly in my face. Mind you, there have been plenty of times when I’ve ridden a bike in the wind, but this was my first experience with having to pile up 5, 10, 15, 20 miles with the wind seemingly sapping every ounce of energy I had, just to get home. It seemed to take all my strength just to maintain enough forward speed to stay up. My neck began to ache and my hands began to go numb. I reached for my cell phone, seriously considering giving up and calling my wife to come rescue me but damn; no signal. I pedaled on, realizing that besides the wind, no matter where I ride from where I live, I always have to climb a hill to get back into the valley. I had 3 ways to choose to get back home. The first way was like the North Face; it was the shortest route, but I had never attempted the long steep climb before. The easiest climb was also the farthest away, it would have added at least another 5 miles to my ride and I was already in severe pain and nearing exhaustion. I chose an intermediate route, the climb of which had nearly killed me on an earlier ride. With this memory weighing on my mind, I pushed myself as hard as I could. Finally, I crested the hill just as my odometer clicked through 50 miles. Somehow the pain and discouragement left as I felt the rush of achieving what, to me, was a major milestone.
Most of the above are “significant” milestones of one type or another, but we shouldn’t forget the simpler and sometimes just as rewarding ones. For example; a seemingly insignificant event this week triggered this blog post. For the first time since the Southern Tier Bike Project website has been up, I was made aware that someone that I did not personally lead there had been found the site and was interested enough to sign up for the Newsletter.
Milestones, large or small, are what give our life pace, they measure events large and small. Savor each and every one.
