Eggs for Breakfast

I am on a breakfast ride today. I need some eggs, but not just any eggs, world-class eggs, farm fresh eggs from Frog Hollow Farm. Yum!

Riding my bicycle I get a different perspective on the place where we live. Riding gives a real appreciation for our terrain. For example, Hills mean work. Hills are all around us in these environs. Any ride around here will be a hilly ride, at least half of the time.

Uphill allows me to slow down, to breath deeply while I think, ponder, contemplate any number thoughts to distract me from yielding to the thought of hard it is to get up this damn hill. Going uphill grows imagination. I use the hills to learn how to think away pain. Riding uphill against the wind is lesson in acceptance and surrender. It hurts to be out of shape, and how I feel tells the real story of my conditioning. Feedback is an acquired taste, and hard work is a great teacher.

Going up Seven Stars Road from the Stony Run to Ridge Road, I love riding by the beautiful cornfield on the right, and the preserved Gingrich farmstead on the left. This morning my thoughts drift to the proposed mega-mall and the 400 condos proposed for the Jones Motor site our Planning Commission approved three months ago. It's hard to believe that the roads I ride on would be changed forever. Certainly Bridge Street would become four lanes, and Stony Run Road would be the back end of the mall. Instead of farmland I would see the backside of this sprawling macadam landscape. I might have to watch for 18-wheelers making their deliveries.

I make the turn by the Mennonite Church. I laugh as I remember the first time I took this route, small daughter in tow, and I stopped in the parking lot to rest. KR, my nickname for her, asked where we were. When I told her that this is where the Mennonites come to pray, she asked where Robin Hood was. We both laughed together when we realized she was referring to the movie, "Robin Hood, Men in Tights." From up here I can see all the way across our valley. I conquered Seven Stars one more time, I think to myself, appreciating the beautiful morning view of the valley.

Stopping on top and looking north I ask myself, what would I want there? The answer comes quickly - a “Ludwig’s Corner,” smaller shops, a village concept with some forethought, something that fits our scale. I want professional offices, a doc in a box, perhaps a nice restaurant, athletic fields. That would be my wish. What would be yours? The cockamamie proposal for a supersized mall is way out of scale for where we live. Sometimes frustration helps fuel me up long hills. I realize that changing things for the better goes against the path of least resistance. It’s always an uphill ride.

Once on Ridge Road, I have blessed flat terrain. Have to be careful here. The cars really move on Ridge Road. Once I pass our beautiful Park on the Ridge and the Township Building, I have my long awaited downhill. Downhill requires a different discipline. Stay focused while experiencing intense joy! Ride the side, mind the traffic, and keep alert. No time to think. Be aware of where I am in time and space. Moving this fast is the closest thing there is to flying, and it’s a thoroughly cheap invigorating thrill. Make the turn at Frog Hollow and drag a sneaker for effect. Take a hard right turn at Miller road and I have arrived. Time to buy some really fresh farm eggs! Now this is going to make a great breakfast!

Tell me about your rides and what you think about going up some of our hills.

Some of the best eggs you can buy are at Frog Hollow Farm. Traveling by bicycle heightens the joy. Here is a link to their address: http://www.localharvest.org/frog-hollow-farm-M40957