-As Alanis sings in my ears, I am soul searching… As I climb and climb, my quest in this timeless solitude is interrupted only by these strange and wonderful spirit interludes…The
Song of Kings Mountain-
I had a kind of Gilligan’s Island bike ride today. There were a lot of things that I was supposed to get done today. I decided to do a fast ride down to San Bruno Mountain and get a quick climb in. I put on my nano and earbuds, and headed out. I was in kind of a weird mood today. Kind of trapped in my own head which usually means I’m trying to find an answer to a strong feeling , an uneasiness, restlessness of the soul, some totem to make this day meaningful. This is when my ideas for writing music and words are quite bountiful.
I like to listen to my Alanis Morisette collection. Something about her lyrical twists and turns fires up the old brain boiler and heats up the old vacant hotel of thoughts and ideas.
Anyway back to earth. I passed right by the turnoff for San Bruno mountain. Screw it maybe I should just check how long it takes me to get to Roberts market in Woodside. I’m doing the BF ride Saturday and toying with the idea of riding from the city. I’m racked with guilt about abandoning my obligations, so I put as much distance from them as I can.
The scenery is quite enticing as I make great time getting down here. An hour and a half to the turnoff for Henry’s house via the scenic route from downtown SF. Just over 2 hours for 92/Canada. Maybe I won’t ride from downtown on Saturday… Wimp…
I stop at the water temple for a nature break. As I begin to exit I hear the loud bellow of a truck horn. The maniac goes wizzing past with a flatbed and tractor doing about 60 mph! Then right behind him are two speeding cyclists that I could barely make out to be females in very smart looking kits. They looked like a couple of modern day Zena’s chasing down some hideously wretched and evil Dragon of old. I turned and noticed another female warrior coming from behind. I quickly reach for my trusty canon to try and catch an image of this vicious warrior to show the rest of the village that I am not insane. Snap! I shoot the evil Vanguard in her rabid pursuit of the Wiley beast only to catch an image of the fairest Olympian in the land! As it turns out there were a bunch of very nice and beautiful young ladies from Team Tibco
http://www.teamtibco.com/ doing some intense interval work. How fortuitous for me! I talked to them a little bit. Apparently they are training for the
http://www.redlandsclassic.com/ They seemed really happy and in the zone. This was such an excellent surprise! They must do modeling on the side cause they really knew how to strike the poses. I did my shoot and bid them farewell.
Mark
As I caught the tailwind and some momentum, I passed two ladies of which one immediately jumped on my wheel!... Am I really that good looking? I’m starting to think I’m just a hunky guy. She was a small thing but really hanging on and seeming to enjoy motopacing. We finally came up to the intersection for Roberts. I asked her for her name and did the usual NorCal promo. She was really pretty cute and on a really hot Pinarello, nice…
40 miles exactly and I’m hungry. I went into Roberts for my favorite sandwich. Turkey and cranberry sauce. I pounded down half the sandwich and a banana. I decided to ride down Mountain Home rd. to warm the legs back up before I hit Kings Mountain. It is really weird how certain songs come up in the auto-shuffle mode. Maybe it’s me but they always seem to have so much meaning for the situation and where I happen to be at the time. As I listen to Alanis and climb, I write my own Kings Mountain anthem. As I come up on the the entrance of Huddart Park I see yet another beauty on a bike. She’s gasping for breath and has a sheen of sweat from the horrible training torture she’s put her self through. I inappropriately begin my interview… She’s a Stanford Athlete. We talked a little, her name is Kate. I like that name. I say goodbye and move on up Kings mountain.
I take a quick break at the top and my guilt calls me northward. I careen down 35. I’ve never gone this way. I average between 35 and 40 effortlessly for what seems forever. I hook up with the back end of a giant dump truck and re-enter the earth’s atmosphere using the big guy as a primitive heat shield. At this point I’ll cut this short and just say I need to write a book. I have so many incredible experiences and chance meetings that I could never fully divulge in this forum. I’m in the process of rebuilding my website. I’ll be putting everything on there soon so I won’t have to blow all my hot air here on this forum. I don’t wanna be a Bogart. Made it home after 6 hrs and 93 miles. Hmm… some recovery ride : ( I have a lot of work and apologizing to do tomorrow so see you later.
Pete