Yesterday my favourite thing was getting on my bicycle for the first time this year. The air smelled of dirt, the wind was cool and fresh, and my bike was fast. I walk almost everywhere in the winter and it doesn't feel slow at all (I enjoy it)--but as soon as my bike is a transportation option again, walking becomes unthinkable. It is strange how sudden and unbending (even in heavy rain, even in cold wind) this change is.
(And two other bonus favourite things: meals with friends [I went out for lunch and I went out for dinner--definitely a marker of the end of term, the luxury of these leisurely meals and conversations]; a Chomsky talk at Carleton which was such an event.)
Biking was mentioned often on the favourite things list. Here are two examples, one general(ish) and one specific:
1) David M: "a good bike ride that explores and has an ocean swim bookending its exploration."
2) Pete H: "Bike ride to the ancient aquaducts outside Rome, followed by dinner and beer at Hang Zhou, a great Chinese restaurant in the Monti neighborhood of Rome."
And, for me, biking is one of those few things that would make it into my "top five." I'll have to think about whether I'd name a specific ride (one of those amazing rides in Provence, for example? or Scotland? or Spain? my favourite ride probably would be in Europe . . . but it is hard to choose between them all) or whether I'd keep it general: biking around town, biking at our cottage, biking in Quebec, bike trips etc.
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