Tonight on my short ride I pushed hard all the way back to my door. After dumping my bike in the house, I hurried out to the deck to cool down. The house is far to cold to sit around when sweaty. I started typing on my phone to capture the tweet I had composed in my head on the way home. In an endorphin-induced frenzy of two-fingered typing, 140 characters became several paragraphs. My first blog follows, a tweet that got away from me:
I bike for fitness. I bike for the sheer pleasure of sailing along the awesome roads of Wisconsin’s Driftless Area. But if I ever forget to enjoy the birds and plants and rocks along the way, take my bike away from me.
Tonight a barn swallow and I surprised each other around a blind corner. Thank god one of us was agile enough to avoid a collision.
Later going through the prairie along the Cap City Trail, way too fast for a prairie, a bat flew under my chin.
Recalling the 90 mi ride around Lake Winnebago last weekend, I marveled at the power of drafting, but I realized I saw a lot less of the things around me while focused on that wheel inches in front of me. I was actually looking forward to the last 57 miles on my own, at my own pace. And I did look around more, enjoying some of the same roads I biked as a kid.
But slipstreams are like a drug. It’s hard to see one passing you without being tempted to take another vacation. Add the built in motivators of an endurance ride to do well and have a good time (on the clock) and it is easy to miss out on some of the other joys of cycling. For me one of the biggest challenges of cycling is balance. Not only being fully in the moment while riding, but not neglecting the other joys in my life because I have to get in another ride.
Two Sandhill Cranes just landed in my marsh. Of course they announced their arrival while still miles away. Cranes have blessed many of my rides. Last night, close flyovers graced the beginning and the end of my ride. I recall specific places where Great Blue Herons have flown with me for a while. I wonder if serious birders appreciate the benefits of cycling to their passion. I’ve only experienced birds intimately while riding. To cruise down a rural road for a mile or more as part of a flock of Goldfinches is a joy for me but I also think I get a glimpse of their joy.
dexheimer 