To the woman I see on Rt 4 in MA

You know who you are.

I see you sometimes in the morning, a pained look on your face while you run. Support band around your leg under your left knee.

I see you more often on an old school geared cruiser bike while on my commute home from Lincoln, MA. I'm the one that always looks at you and gives you the thumbs up, but you never notice, the pain on your face however, is plainly there.

You ride that bike for miles, don't you? Sometimes I see you in Concord, MA on rt 62. Most of the time it's Rt 4 in Billerica, or sometimes Bedford. I don't know where you are going to or where you are coming from, but when I see you, it must be at a point where you are pretty far into your ride. You're rolling, but you look like you're in pain.

But you are not quitting.

I see you in the rain, in the morning, in the cold, in the heat without fail, I see you riding that bike. And when I see you, you look like you are in pain.

But you are not quitting.

Sometimes I see people in road bikes flying past you at almost 15mph faster than you going uphill. You don't even notice, because you have your own task.

But you are not quitting.

I applaud you Ma'am. Because without fail, you are DOING IT every day.

EVERY DAY.

Keep going, you're doing fantastic! I look forward to giving you a thumbs up on my commute later today like I do every day. Maybe you'll see it, maybe you won't, but I'll do it any way, because you are DOING IT. And that motivates the hell out of me.

I just have one piece of advice for you. Make that hill in Billerica your *****, and smile when you're doing it.....