Time is beginning to bend and melt into a river marked by events which it flows around like rocks in a creek, rather than any numeric delineations contrived in the human mind.
As such, it feels simultaneously like I have not yet even begun this journey, and that I have been out here a very long time. Somewhere between the two I’m sure is the truth.
Things are going very well so far. The group, as i suspected, is SOLID. Strong riders, responsible, like to cook, and know how to take care of themselves.
The weather on the other hand…
There has not been a day without rain yet. Not one. Sometimes it’s just part of the day, sometimes it’s all day just duuuumping rain. Just ridiculous amounts of rain.
Coming from drought stricken California, I welcome this; and revel and rejoice in each glutted stream I pass, all the roadside waterfalls, and the vivid bright green which is this wet Virginia landscape.
Sure, it’s not ideal for cycling, but I DO have some killer waterproof tights that it would be a shame to have purchased without using…
And SOMETIMES a sixty-mile day of 50degrees and pouring rain ends like this:
Another note from the trail: I got hurt.
DON’T WORRY! I am already fine again, but for a moment there I feared a tiny ankle-tendon rupture ( or tear, or whatever made it swell and bruise and hurt) was going to take me out of the game!!
Lucklily Adventure Cycling’s approach to problems like debilitating Leader injury is: “Make it work”. And while I am not always the best for things like following detailed instructions to a “T”,–I es-pecialize in “making things work”.
It is so good to be working for a company which values that particular skill set!!
So I rented a car in Charlottesville and followed my riders for two days. To justify the expenditure in the carefully-allocated budget for the trip, I offered to carry ” a heavy thing” for each rider in the rental car. That way they were getting a value above and BEYOND their beloved leader’s remaining on the trip. FYI: when offering to carry heavy things for bikers approaching their first major hill ( getting up onto the Blue Ridge Parkway) exercise extreme caution and set boundaries. The pile of heavy things I was left with:
But somehow I schlepped it and myself all the way to Lexington.
But just as all’s well that begins well ( see previous post), indeed it works that way for how it ends too.
After two days driving I rode 47 miles of moderate hills today loaded and my ankle feels fully recovered. Thank Baby Jesus. I would hate to miss out on all the epic adventure to come!!
