Thoughts can be so heavy. Literally weightless, still they will press down, anchoring us where we stand if we let them.

Daily actions also take their toll. Routine activities, interactions, and the small challenges of everyday life tempt the body to stop moving when free time comes around.

If we succumb to inertia our world becomes small, the people in it outsized, our thoughts overwhelmingly heavy.

Many times lately I have felt surrounded by these giants, so big that I cannot pass through them.

I might have dropped anchor and let the giants hold me under their thumb without the prodding of my tandem partner and the ambitious plans we’ve laid out for later this summer. These plans require us to stay in motion.

Weekends arrive and we push each other out the door, staying true to our summer ride schedule. We pedal and recollections of the week manifest and surge into crystal clear focus in front of me.

How are they so huge, I wonder, and keep pedaling. In motion rumination continues.

My body warms to the day and I settle in behind Felkerino. I notice the trees in their full leafy summer greens, the trees that have fallen during recent heavy rains, and the beginnings of crops growing.

The mosquitoes are out now, too; the humid weather has invited them to summer. My shins collect grit from the road, and my right eye burns from the sunblock sweat that dripped its way down my forehead.

My rose-tinted lenses are doing their thing, and everything around me is vivid. The summer heat, scenery, and tandem miles along quiet roads have reduced my giants. They still exist, but they occupy a tiny place in the landscape now.

I accept the world as it is. By expending energy and setting my sights on unobstructed horizon views over a series of hours, I have been refilled.

While the giants were shrinking, I have grown big. Now I am outsized, and my giants cannot stop me.

Everything is okay, I think to myself, and I believe it. Fortified, we pedal on.