Words have eluded me for a while now. December 16th was my last post. What has happened? Nothing to speak of, I suppose. A relationship entered and exited. Justice was served. Friendships forged. Businesses created. Songs written. Drinks drunk.
A couple weeks ago, a Sunday, I had to get my bike from the practice space. I needed to get to work that evening. So I walked. I cant get over how much I love walking long distances. Images immediately enter of monks with walking sticks from those old Japanese woodcuts. Walking and meditating. Its the only activity that really lets my mind wander. Yet it takes a certain amount of steps before I get past the "thinking about thinking" stage and really let loose. That Sunday I had my headphones on and thought the most apropos soundtrack for my hot summer Arkansas walk was Ride the Lightning. I could be seen walking past the capitol laughing to myself marching to 'Fight Fire with Fire.' It just so happens that most of the songs on that record match the beats per minute of my natural walking tempo. So it became easy to step along with Lars.
Yesterday I met a group of 21 cyclists headed from New York to California on a 52 day ride across the states. These people were amazing. Allison was so inspiring. She was the first into town and happened to find me at the Station. I fed her and we started talking. I gave her a list of bike shops and bars to hit. We all hung out that night. I wanted to take a week or two off and hit the road the next day at 5am with her.
Today I could not wait to ride. After work I fixed up the Bianchi and headed to Argenta to see Marcus and Michael do a set on the street. It was great. They rocked out some real blues while Marcus and Dede's two kids ran around banging pipes and the ground with their drum sticks. As the sun went down their set ended. I took the river trail down to the Big Dam Bridge. In the sections where the trees blocked out the moonlight my eyes could hardly adjust to find the road. I began to get thoughts of being jumped and robbed out there alone under the cover of darkness. The low light allowed my mind to hallucinate men trying to jump out at me from the trees. I rode fast hoping to trace the winding narrow road. Begging for light I finally emerged in to the well lit bridge entrance. I managed to take the entire trip so far and the entire length of the bridge with out shifting from high gear. I am getting stronger. It wasnt until I made my way to Cantrell and up Cedar Hill Rd that I finally shifted down. Hard ride up. Its so preferable to take a difficult ride when you have no idea what is around the next turn. There is nothing to dread. It is truly living in the moment. There is no turning around only dealing with that which is immediately confronting me. No thinking just moving. Muscles screaming. Finally, thank you, I found Kavanaugh. I headed downhill towards home. One final sprint. This bike is so fast, I must have been doing 30-32mph.
In front of my house I slow to a stop. My left foot gets stuck in the cage. Halfway to the ground, it was too fast to smile but upon reflection and in slow motion I let go and enjoyed the breeze before I hit the ground.
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