How I Spent My Saturday

preface: I woke up with my excuse machine going. I was too tired. It was cold. I might get sick. I needed to stay home and lay low. I could cook a nice dinner if I spent the day lounging around the house. It was gonna be a pain to drive over to West Seattle with the bike. I might get lost. blah blah blah. at some point I got over myself and started getting ready.

Extremely cold out, but I got on the ferry anyway-- $5.30 for me and the bike. A quick sail over to Vashon, disembarked, then saw that first mighty hill and knew this ride on this island was gonna be all about hunkering down. Besides, riding up hills builds character-- and it heats you up, which is quite nice when it's so ding-danged cold outside...so I got a whole lotta heating up in between the ferry terminal and the cabin at the other end of the island.


a mere one beer in the middle. and snacks. lots of snacks to keep me going. as you can see, there's no such thing as "flat" on Vashon Island. thank you, body. and thank you, mind. afterall, hillclimbing is 60% physical, 40% mental, methinks. and thanks to T & J & D for those wonderful fires that kept me warm for my social interlude. Le Therapiste was right: I really needed to go to this party. And as much as I wish L was riding with me, it was a blast to be out on these remote roads by myself, going fast, struggling, (snorking,) and blazing home in the pitch black with only my headlights and highpowered helmet light to guide me. Without landmarks and a horizon in easy view it came down to the feeling-- pushing, breathing, focusing on that thin strip of rideable pavement ahead of me, the cold cold air, the wind against that fleecy gore-tex hat under my helmet.

It was sheer joy in exertion