Life On Two Wheels

Along the river and toward the mountains a morning shadow shimmers across the road. The rays of the first light jet through the trees and across a figure gliding upon the road. His breath trails in short spurts, petrified as it hits the icy air. All is quiet except the slight sound of the athlete as he summons himself for yet another days work. Soon the rest of the world will bustle with life as well and the brief simplicity of cyclist and nature will disappear into the everyday struggle of life in full motion; the errands and intervals, the appointments and intersections, and the deadlines and finish lines OutPaceTheRace

Sunday, January 06, 2008

Enduring Humanity

North Bend, WA
Sunday, January 06, 2008

When the leaves are brown and the sky is glum. The day is short and the rain is long. And the season is forthcoming… what does the future provide?
Not much, but watch Rocky IV and it all makes sense.

Every moment that I spend in the rain, on my bike, half frozen and nearly dead, confirms the strength of mind that I will hopefully draw from as the world turns and the seasons change. Each time I wake up and hear the rain as it troubles the roof I think to myself of the edge it bestows, and I realize that when the time comes for me to test that which I’ve spent months crafting I will not be displeased.

And so… let it be known that a mere 5 hour ride in the sun is not beneficial save that which is done in the sublime weather fabricated in but one place on earth; the epitome of the Pacific Northwest. It lies due east of Puget Sound and on the very blade of the Cascade mountains, where the weather builds, the sun never shines, the thermometer holds steady at 34 degrees, and the rain falls eternally. This is the building block of humanity where genetic superiority is established… Against the greatest odds and the most extreme weather in the world mankind perseveres.