Highway 67
Today at lunch I rode home, I mean the apartment at lunch. As I mentioned earlier, there was a strong wind in my face with huge gusts. Sometimes the wind would momentarily change direction which seemed like a tactic designed to knock me over. From the east for a second, then strait on, then from the west for a second. It's uphill for that 10 miles, gaining about 125 ft. in elevation. The ride was plenty tough, but I like the challenge. While trudging on into the teeth of this wind I was reminded of my one roughest ride ever in my life.
When I took my trip across Texas there was one day that took me From Fort Stockton to Alpine some 75 or 80 miles. I don't want to sound like the older person who says that back in their day, they would walk to school in the snow and freezing wind back in the day, but YES, the wind was blowing very hard that fateful day on highway 67. And YES it was up hill too, gaining about 1366 ft of elevation. That day was extra rough because I had my panniers and a trailer. Whenever I would go over a small crest and think that I was going to be able to coast for a moment, I found that I would come to a complete stop unless of course I kept pedalling. There were times that I would be out of the saddle in my lowest gear, steadily pushing down on the crank at a very slow cadence. On that day I found an extreme appreciation for being out of the saddle for long periods of time. I think that today's cycle trainers don't train enough out of the saddle. I don't know why I think that most people believe they are better off sitting all the time and trying to keep a high cadence. I read somewhere that Lance Armstrong liked for his team to train at high cadence, and I know that he has/had that talent. Somewhere on this blog site is a you tube video of him turning his head back to look at his closest competition for the day. The glare in Lance's eyes were intimidating enough, but when he came out of the saddle and road almost all the way up that mountain he kicked some major butt that day.
Anyway, on that day on highway 67, I had resolved that I was going to make that ride, as if I had a choice. I was out there in the middle of nowhere with steady wind speeds of 30 miles an hour and gusts that could stop me flat. Finishing that day was a milestone in my life of riding and personal mettle test. Today was difficult but only a reminder. I love that I can ride a bicycle. When I arrive at my apartment, most everytime I sit down on a little tri-legged stoolin the garage to take of my shoes, I feel so good and alive and the moment to connect with God and the universe seems to happen quite naturally.
When I took my trip across Texas there was one day that took me From Fort Stockton to Alpine some 75 or 80 miles. I don't want to sound like the older person who says that back in their day, they would walk to school in the snow and freezing wind back in the day, but YES, the wind was blowing very hard that fateful day on highway 67. And YES it was up hill too, gaining about 1366 ft of elevation. That day was extra rough because I had my panniers and a trailer. Whenever I would go over a small crest and think that I was going to be able to coast for a moment, I found that I would come to a complete stop unless of course I kept pedalling. There were times that I would be out of the saddle in my lowest gear, steadily pushing down on the crank at a very slow cadence. On that day I found an extreme appreciation for being out of the saddle for long periods of time. I think that today's cycle trainers don't train enough out of the saddle. I don't know why I think that most people believe they are better off sitting all the time and trying to keep a high cadence. I read somewhere that Lance Armstrong liked for his team to train at high cadence, and I know that he has/had that talent. Somewhere on this blog site is a you tube video of him turning his head back to look at his closest competition for the day. The glare in Lance's eyes were intimidating enough, but when he came out of the saddle and road almost all the way up that mountain he kicked some major butt that day.
Anyway, on that day on highway 67, I had resolved that I was going to make that ride, as if I had a choice. I was out there in the middle of nowhere with steady wind speeds of 30 miles an hour and gusts that could stop me flat. Finishing that day was a milestone in my life of riding and personal mettle test. Today was difficult but only a reminder. I love that I can ride a bicycle. When I arrive at my apartment, most everytime I sit down on a little tri-legged stoolin the garage to take of my shoes, I feel so good and alive and the moment to connect with God and the universe seems to happen quite naturally.
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