Why do we do it?

Over the last three trips I have, several times, asked myself, "Why do Brennan and I put ourselves through a week-long fitness review composed of grueling hills, or 30 mph headwinds, or 98 degree heat?" The obvious answers are the ones probably going through your head right now: we are crazy; we are idiots; we, through some masochistic predilection, enjoy punishing our bodies. All are plausible and probably (at least a little) true. However, as I zoomed through the midwest in my car 1000 miles to Houston, I realized that Ernest Hemingway was spot on when he said, "It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle." Now while we are not conquering any massive hills, you definitely gain a better appreciation for the smaller (and often unnoticed) things that this country has to offer - little mom and pop stores, seemingly seedy motels, and watching Gulf tides roll in, things that never get a second glance at 60+ mph hour, become intriguing. I wouldn't go so far as to say inspiring, but something as simple as a water tower in a small town becomes a goal, a destination, a pivotal landmark. Slowing things down to say 16 mph makes you take notice of a lot more. Bottom line: America is big, and we have driven through tens or hundreds of thousands of miles of it. We still talk about things that we passed, places we stopped, and things that we did. I can hardly say that about drives to Chicago, St. Louis, Houston, Charleston, or Kansas City. Getting to the destination is great, but getting there really is the best part.