Sometimes it takes work to get where you want to go.

Yesterday I had enough time to go for a long ride. After fourteen miles of biking, I decided it was time to figure out exactly where I wanted to go. So I went over to the side of the road, pulled out my map and spotted a lake that I have only ever visited in the winter to go ice fishing. It was high time to see what the lake was like in summer time, I thought.

I went North for nineteen miles into a strong headwind. I am finally starting to get comfortable in the drops so I stayed in them as much as possible until I reached the lake. But when I got to the lake I couldn’t find anywhere to actually sit and enjoy it. All the waterfront seemed to be taken up by private property and I wasn’t sure where I was allowed to go. After about forty-five minutes of biking around, I decided to just head home. After all, it is all about the journey not the destination, right?

But as I went down the road away from the lake, I noticed a lady working in her garden. So I went over and asked her if there was an area where I could access the lake without intruding on private property. For me, that takes a lot of courage. I don’t normally approach random strangers like that. I guess I thought the lake was worth it. She was very nice and gave me directions to a gazebo right on the water.

Following her directions, I went back to the lake and dismounted my bike to walk to the gazebo, relieved that I would get to enjoy the water after all. Until I heard someone shouting at me.

“You are on private property, young lady!”

I whirled around, wide-eyed, to see a lady hanging out the window of a cottage with a very stern expression on her face. Yikes.

“I am so sorry! I was told that this gazebo is open to the public.” I apologized.

“It is, but you are on my property right now.” She stated firmly.

I quickly moved to the gazebo, rather confused. There seemed to be no way to access the public gazebo but through her property. Regardless, I felt triumphant, I had made it to a beautiful spot on the water and I was going to thoroughly enjoy it. (Even though I felt like crying for the first two minutes because apparently I had used up all my emotional strength approaching and then being confronted by random strangers.)

After soaking up the breeze and watching the water ebb and flow for a time, I snuck past the lady’s house to the road and headed home feeling wonderfully refreshed. With a sturdy tailwind aiding me, I flew all the way home.