I'd like to thank all the people I see running, skating and cycling on my morning bike rides. You are the folks who keep me getting out there and exercising.

To the women in low-cut and bare-midriff shirts, shorts, bikinis and sports-bras, I thank you for providing your scenic vistas of skin and muscles. I look forward to seeing you at every opportunity. It may seem like I am just speeding past you, concentrating on the next mile, but I am so checking you out.

To the men with chiseled abs and brand new, 5 pound, carbon-fiber bikes, I thank you for giving me a goals. I look forward to passing you at every opportunity on my 40-year-old, 30 pound steel-frame Schwinn. And when I am passed I feel the thrill of competition carry me forward until you are out of sight.

To the people listening to their ear buds rather than the traffic around them, walking three abreast in the bike lane, or blindly zooming into traffic at the trail crossings, please stop. You're making it hard for the rest of us, and that last one embarrasses me every time.

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