Pedaling uphill is miserable. It’s also the only way to earn the downhill where you don’t pedal at all.

Effort and ease are not separate lives, and the second is bought with the first. Climbs feel endless partly because your attention narrows to the next few feet of road, which is also why you cannot see how much ground you have covered. The relief on the far side is real, but it exists because of the grinding part.

When something is hard right now, stop asking how long it will last and start counting what it is buying. Name the thing that gets easier later: the language you will not have to translate, the lift that stops scaring you. Then take the next stretch.