I am on good terms with all the other elements and so it seemed about time that I made my peace with the wind. Today, on this rather blustery sunny day, I seemed to come to an understanding with its being.
Ah, yes. But first a note from yesterday that I forgot to include. I finally had my opportunity to stop for a school bus that was coming from the opposite direction. It's something I've wanted to do while riding on a bike, probably because of the incongruity of the situation since a slow rolling bicycle poses very little danger.
The situation presented itself on Hwy 71 about 4 miles south of West Fork. The school bus stopped and it was pretty obvious that no one was going to cross the road since there weren't any houses on my side. Still, I coasted to a stop and watched as the first grader exited and headed down her driveway and waited until the bus driver turned off its flashing red lights. The driver must have appreciated my gesture as she waved as she passed. A couple of the drivers in the cars behind the bus must have been perplexed by my stopping as they gave me long looks, taken aback my move. It was fun, it felt good and I gave bicyclist a good name.
I was curious to see if Hwy 71 happened to get paved between now and yesterday when I rode on it. So, I took a very circuitous, hilly and very scenic 30 mile route to 71 and Drake airport to check out the situation in anticipation for the group ride tomorrow from Fayetteville to Van Buren. Along the way I passed these two horses that seemed to be waiting to place an order.
"I'll have a large wheat grass smoothie with a splash of rye juice and oats sprinkled on top."
So, the wind. I'm not sure if I can explain this. As I was riding, I thought of the wind having life, conveying life, transporting particles and essences, and playing a vital part of eco-system that we may not fully understand. I didn't think of the wind as being there just to give me a hard time as I tried to make my way down the road; I viewed it more holistically as part of the Earth as a whole and somehow this made riding in the wind much less on an onus.
The ride today was a combination of riding with and into the wind and, make no mistake about it, riding with it was always my preference. But, I am happy to have made this peace. Especially given that the ride tomorrow will entail 60+ miles entirely into the wind.
Today's Ride: 4hrs 39mins 51.61 miles. 46°-60° 15-20mph Miles YTD: 8,456.40
Number of miles per day needed to reach 10,000 miles by the end of the year: 27.56
Donations for Biking for Food, which support the Community Meals at St Paul’s Episcopal Church in Fayetteville, AR, can be sent to: Biking for Food, St Paul’s Episcopal Church, 224 N. East Ave., Fayetteville, AR 72701
Or, make a pledge per bike miles ridden at www.stpaulsfay.org/bikingforfood.html.
To see older postings, search the Archives listed on the right had panel.
To see postings before 15 August 2011, please go to www.mylifeasabike2.blogspot.com
To see postings before 11 June 2011, please go to www.mylifeasabike.blogspot.com
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