The Flow

Lately I have been doing a lot of thinking about cycling, with the news of the latest Tour dopeys and with the dusting of snow on the peaks coupled with the upcoming Fruita trip and I guess I am all cycling. I feel like I can’t get enough, almost like I have my own bucket list and have been given a terminal diagnosis.

Towards the end of every season I get this feeling whether it be for skiing, climbing or cycling or what ever- I always feel like I can push the hardest for that last great line.

Often I credit it to the knowledge that I really need to have that back surgery and have my shoulders rebuilt again. Then I slip into the thought of “hell I will be out for the season of *fill in sport here*.” One day I know I will have to end an activity for a few months I just cannot bring myself to face it!

So here I was riding some really nice lines of loose fast single track my senses heightened, waiting for that mountain lion to step out on the trail in front of me or for one to pounce on me or for me to fly off of one of the many loose exposed hairpin turns. None of which have happened before, but you can dream, right?

As I was banking these turns I started thinking about the Tour and two images came to mind. The first is the famous gap jump during the ‘07 Tour, the second is a close up of Lance Armstrong climbing in the ‘05 Tour, a picture where you can feel his intensity.

These are inspirations to me of sheer determination and will- coupled with physical prowess and insanity. With those images I started to power through the turns harder, working through the searing pain and something happened. I was liquid, my Blur and I were one, flowing like water over the trail everything was in tune as all sound disappeared and I was focused on the moment and on the simple beauty of being. The ride was no longer a series of climbs and drops it was not a matter of that mountain lion or the cliffs, The track did not seem as loose and my surroundings were a blur, my vision tunneled and slowed and I was there, in that moment, a focused single track mind of pure simplicity. Simply enjoying today for what it was.

Thanks to all of you that keep the dreams alive through inspiration and ingenuity. I found my Zen.