Becky and I recently researched, shopped for and then purchased our wedding anniversary gift. We have observed the gift-giving element of our yearly celebration in this way for the last few years.
At this time in our lives, we are blessed that the need and/or desire for traditional anniversary gifts is mostly non-existent. After some thought we settled on something we agreed would be a good and appropriate representation of our married life. We feel we found the perfect gift—a bicycle rack for our car. Happy anniversary to us.
Very soon after we met, we discovered that we both like to exercise. Neither of us saw it as a drudgery that must be done for health reasons. On the contrary, getting the heart rate going and feeling strong was a distinct pleasure. She had been a runner for most of her adult life, and I quickly took up the sport. Running became the primary way we got our aerobic workouts.
Becky and I still run together, but recent injuries and an awareness of my body’s limits have convinced me I need to cut back and find other ways to workout. Bicycling seems to be the answer.
Even though our anniversary is later this month, we decided to give our present a trial run. At first, the challenge was to figure out the best way to make it work for us. It took several trials and errors to learn the best adjustments for the wheel platforms, which bike should go on first and in which direction, and how to most efficiently tighten them down. We struggled together for nearly an hour to get it right.
Just like a relationship, from the beginning you need to keep at it to see what will work best. After we were sure we had it right, we looked at each other and said, “Happy anniversary!”
The purpose of a bike rack, after all, is to go to different places to ride, so we drove to Franklin and hit the trails there. Many time we have run the section of the Greenway Trail that starts at Blue Heron Park, goes under U.S. 31 and takes us through Province Park. We were eager to explore with our bikes some of the newer sections of the ever-expanding trail system.
We were without a map, so we let the trail itself guide us. We weren’t sure where we were going, where we would end up or if we would encounter roadblocks. At least once I think we were not technically on the trail, but together we determined the likeliest way to get back on track. Eventually, 15 miles later we wound up at our car. It was a beautiful trip.
Getting our bikes situated back on our anniversary bike rack wasn’t nearly so difficult as the initial procedure had been. The steps were still fresh in our memories (although we took the precaution of taking a picture of the rack with bikes attached, just in case). Soon we were on the road and after a stop for a celebratory cold drink, we headed home.
Running has been a great way for Becky and me to enjoy and deepen our relationship. It will continue to be, I think, although not to the extent as before. That’s going to be okay. Our plan is to explore some of the many bike routes and rails to trails paths that Indiana has to offer. We’ve decided that it would be a good tradition to begin each trek with our new bike rack by wishing each other, “Happy Anniversary!” Traditions are one of the ways relationships are made.
Norman Knight, a retired Clark-Pleasant Middle School teacher, writes this weekly column for the Daily Journal. Send comments to [email protected].
