Penny is a friend, triathlete, mother, nurse and just an amazing, kick-ass kind of woman. 
She’s also a poet, at least I think so. What follows are her words, not mine, but I share in the feelings.
“Loading the bike up for a morning ride. My enthusiasm is almost palpable. 50 miles with a few friends. Clicking and whirring my way through part of the fastest growing county in the United States.
This will be one of the most therapeutic rides I take part of this summer. I have ridden a few of these roads before and developed a vocabulary that combines my trucker genealogy with the Philly girl that resides in my soul.
Why? Why put myself in uncomfortable situations that provoke the nasty girl in me?
Because.
It’s therapy.
It’s gutter girl meets phd.
I am not trying to tell you are wrong. I am trying to tell you why you need to cater to you sense of adventure. Or maybe adolescence.
When I was 9-13 I rode my bike everywhere. My parents didn’t drive me. They simply did not have the time.
I can see myself, almost upright, chasing a few friends across the playground. Riding as soon as my mother would allow, on a Saturday morning, to my friend Patty’s.
I feel it in my soul.
You see an inconvenience.
I feel my heart beating a rhythm I can not control.
You lose 10 seconds to a minute, while waiting to pass me by.
I feel your respect, annoyance, and or anger beating on my left shoulder as I give my heart and soul to rise over (and out of) your way.
You give a me a foot. I feel a few inches and fear whether or not your mirror will clip my hip.
What I want you to see?
Your child.
Rather than a phone or game in hand, they have the wind in their ears.
What I want you to see?
Ambition.
The power of a biological machine combining with a man made one. Finesse and strength beating down a pavement.
What I want you to try?
Dust of your bike. Give 10 minutes of your soul to the wind and the air.
What I want you to see?
The sunrise . The sunset. Your legs beating a path down the open road.
What I want you to hear?
The wind. That’s it. You can not hear your phone. You are concentrating on whether you hear a car, or the echo from the local highway.
What I want you to feel?
You. All the aches, discomforts and power you can wheel. You are a machine. Tune it up and control it.
What I want you to embrace?
Freedom.
No one can teach you here.
I am not saying leave your phone behind. You may have someone who needs you.
But that’s the point. You can avoid life for a few. They will find you if the need you.
What I want to avoid?
An inconvenience to you.
Truly. I pick random times to avoid rush hour. I am not intentionally slowing you down. I am intentionally beating the hell out of myself, so that I can handle what the world throws at me.
Put someone you know on that bicycle.
How does it change you?”
Wheeler 