There was an opening in the field at the races tonight. One of those that happens really quickly. Someone brakes, or touches someone's handlebars and that jittery dance begins rather quickly. I found myself thinking about jumping into that hole, something that I had just done a bit earlier in the night. But I paused for a second and this thought filled my head. That hole just opened up because someone in there lost his nerve.
The moment passed almost as quickly as it had come. But for some reason it came back when I sat down to band this out. I guess that means it is worth noting, or at the very least, getting out.
This does not always happen and it frustrates me. I spend countless hours on the bike and there is not much to do there except listen to yourself. Talk to yourself and listen to yourself, or at least hope to hell that you are listening. But there are some pretty golden ideas that come out of this and I remember only snippets of them. A fragment of a good idea is somewhere to start, not ideal, but still good.
I have tried all different ways of getting these thoughts out to no avail. The Rite In the Rain ("tired of mushy notes?") books did not work so good because you still have to stop to write anything legible. And the voice recorder did not work either because I sweat like a - well, a - pig in heat? Not really sure what kind of image that conjures for you, but it is fair to say that it is something really sweaty. Like rubber suited high school wrestlers trying to cut weight. Sweaty enough for you?
I sweated so much this weekend past that my eyelids felt foreign. The uppers on them were sticking in a strange but not entirely uncomfortable way. They felt disconnected from everything that was happening. But maybe it had something to do with the 8 mile climb that was causing them to sweat so profusely? Anything is possible on those god forsaken backroads. And just as a little side note. If there is something named "the Wall" on your next ride decide early whether you are going to do that fucker or not. Hopefully you go for it, but do not go lightly into that battle, trust me you will make it. And then you will know why they call it "the Wall."
The Tour of the Unknown Coast has to be one of the harder 100 mile rides that I have done. I do not dare say that this is the toughest ride ever. But, it could be pretty damn close.
Due to a mishap at the start (overshot alarm? dogs on the loose? mouths on the loose?) Cole and I missed the start of the ride and proceeded to "chase" back on from there. Which really amounted to riding with each other and a few hundred other people along the way. But that just meant that there was more time for Cole to spit out tweets (he really can talk 140 characters at a time). And for us to meet some interesting characters along the way. That and fall in and out of love. It was great.
Things I Fell In Love With On the Tour of the Unknown Coast
1. Cycling
2. Riding with the Rapha Continental
3. Sleeping in Tents
4. A College Girl Who Climbs Like an Angel with a Blue Lightning Bolt on her Jersey
5. Redwoods
6. Long Climbs
7. Jaw Harp Music
8. Aaron Erbeck and Tony Pereira's Laughs
9. The Girl in the White T-shirt
10. Ice Cream after long days
11. DJ Quick
12. California Sunshine
13.
14. My Richard Sachs Roadbike
Things I Fell Out of Love With On the Tour of the Unknown Coast
1. Cycling (don't worry it was only on the long climbs)
2. Early Start Times
3. Sleeping on the ground
4. Dave Roth's Snoring
5. Cafeteria Food
6. Pizza in Northern California
7. Hippies
I guess it is probably a good thing that the good outweighs the bad? I really wish that we could do this every weekend. But there is all those lives to rush back to.
