Pushing Out of Our Comfort Zone

“A ship in a harbor is safe, but that’s not what a ship is built for.”

And neither are we in our comfort zones.

Around mile three, the crowd thinned and by 125th Street, the path appeared to end. A fellow rider pointed out the connector and it required riding on the street amongst cars approaching the highway. I might have only been a few miles from home, but I was a million miles from my comfort zone. I fought off fear and forged ahead using every hand signal (and gesture!) I knew.

Back on the path, gliding under the highway, the Hudson River glistening to my left, the sound of traffic fading away, I forgot I was in the city. Another mile and I was beneath the George Washington Brid

“It’s a different path, but you have to go on the street first,” she said. “Want to join me?”

As we walked down the steps carrying our bikes, we exchanged names before mixing into the fold of honking cars. Soon Heidi, a singer and stuntwoman for Disney, (which explained her missing helmet), led me up a steep incline into Inwood Park where trees overtook us. A few miles later we returned to the original bike path, and pedaled back, talking the entire way.