Signal & Signal

I had a great Birthday weekend!  On Saturday morning me and a friend rode up Signal Mountain (W Road route).  I couldn't help but make my usual remark of "Man its gorgeous here!  You have no idea how awesome it is to live in Chattanooga!"  Note, he is from Chattanooga.  I know it was my goal to make more personal pictures on the blog, and I got about 1/4th of the way there, since I did bring my point and click, but I got so wrapped up in how pretty it was up there, I forgot to take it out.  

I'll try my best to describe it here.  When we got to the top, we got off our bikes and I felt like I could see forever.  Mountains were in the background, but immediately below was the valley.  The morning fog was still visible below us in certain spots, and the good ol' river was briskly winding through the city.  It was awesome!  

We then rode around on the brow for awhile, before going hypothermic down the mountain.  For those of you who have not had the pleasurable experience of being soking weat with sweat in 30 degree weather, and then going 40 mph down a mountain on a bike, it's simmilar to freeze out in a car, but just with your whole body outside and being wet.  

The next day on my birthday, I met another friend at the bottom of the mountain to run up the front side.  Much to my chagrin, my alarm didn't go off.  He was nice enough to wait for me.  I guess the wait was worth it for him, since we talked the entire way up the mountain as we ran, and we still ran faster than his time before.  Everytime I tell myself I'm going to hitch-hike down, becuase of my knees, but it never works out.  So staying true to my roots, I did something VERY different - I RAN DOWN THE MOUNTAIN BACKWARDS!  I definitly got some strange looks, but it was worth it.  My knees didn't feel like I had dropped bricks on them all day, like before.  I think the bonus, was that my hamstrings got a nice extra workout.  

After the workout, I had one of the breakfast's I've had in a long time, and definitly one of the best in my entire life.  Not so much for the food, even though that was amazing, but by the friends and family I ate with.  

Hindsight 20/20, I'm glad everything happened the way it did last year, to trully force me to believe that what matters most in this crazy world we live in is the relationships we have with others.