..mentum.
Yesterday morning, for the first time in several weeks, I read some bikey-geeky article and enjoyed some photo ride reports on Flickr and thought, “man. I’ve gotta get out and ride today.”
The uniqueness of that thought cannot be overstated. It’s been a few weeks of dull and listless slogging, coughing, wondering why the night won’t end, coughing, hoping that morining wouldn’t come so quickly, trying to make my brain work, feeling cold, feeling chilled and grumpy.
When things are going good, I love enjoying the brisk winds of winter, mist-shrouded trails and quiet with the rain moments from the saddle of a bicycle. There’s a wonderous imperviousness that keeps you moving against challenges, and you feel like the reserves are there in large stuffed dufflebags found in every closet.
It’s kind of amazing how easily that gets forgotten when I get laid low. I begin realizing what a whimp I am, and think about the folks out on the frontiers a mere 150 years ago. They couldn’t let a cold, flu or infection set them back - the herd would die, the crops would go untended and critters would make off with the chickens. Of course, that was kind of a hard, brutal life otherwise, what with marrying around 14 and dying at, well, pret’near my age. So, maybe that’s a bad example.
The short version is that yesterday’s momentum stuck around for a bit. Let me peel the cages off the Hilsen and inflate the tires once more. Let me roll down the shady road to China Camp, bump onto the trails and reintroduce my muscles to contractions and relaxations.
After a slight system meltdown from the first climbing, I got back on board and enjoyed first the benefits of a geared, freewheeling drivetrain, then the manners of A. Homer Hilsen on singletrack. By the time I’d looped around, enjoyed a gorgeous view of the SF Bay and East Bay Hills and then dropped down to Shoreline trail, things started feeling pretty good. Didn’t see too many people on the trail, as the most folks were probably tracing the traditional “Appetite Seminar” route. But, it worked for me.
Afterall, momentum is a fickle mistress.