SaiKaiTai

Oh, it's been a gloomy, gloomy August here but yesterday -the worst day of them all- as the day progressed, the fog began to imperceptibly lift until 4PM when the sparkling sun came out under beautiful blue skies... It was time to get out on the bike! The LeMond has been a little neglected of late so I pumped up the tires, oiled the chain and off I went. As is only appropriate for such a beautiful afternoon, it was a "free" ride. By that, I mean the LeMond has no computer so I just ride to ride on that bike, not shackled by HR or cadence or speed... just me and the bike. As is usually the case when I ride around town, on the way back I ended up at the pier. I like to stop here for a few minutes, collect my thoughts and enjoy the sound and sparkle of the Pacific. The ceaseless, rolling of the waves has always drawn me and stopping here is just my way of paying my respects and saying "goodbye" for another day as I head home. As I pushed off yesterday and coasted away, I brought the free pedal up, locked in and slowly, languidly began to pedal eastward. With the sound of the surf behind me fading away, I felt such a sense of peace, of joy as I realized what a wonderful thing it is that we do, riding our bikes. We push the pedals, we move forward. It just doesn't get any better than this.

Terrierman

Sounds nearly perfect. The only thing that could have made it better was a poolboy sighting.

SaiKaiTai

BluesDawg

Fixed it for you. No charge.

Terrierman

Actually I had a nice ride at least a little bit like that last night myself. Took off on the MTB looking for some new roads, and since I'm in the sticks, the MTB is the right choice for that sort of thing, as the roads tend to change to gravel the further I get from civilization. Wound up finding a new to me road, (Goff Creek Road) lots of Ozarks rollers and soon enough, gravel. The road turned into one of those green tunnel deep shade experiences. Very cool and just what the doctor ordered. Yesterday was hard, as a fellow terrierman who I had met a couple of times and corresponded with on other forums came home from hunting his terrier on Sunday, then laid down and died on his kitchen floor. Quite a shock to a lot of people, he was a good man and a couple of years younger than I. A good dose of mortality reminder makes the ride just that much sweeter. Not to hijack your thread. sorry if i did.

solveg

CACycling

My wife and I enjoyed a great ride together Sunday. We've always headed north along the coast for our longer rides but, as there was an special event happening on our normal route, we decided to head south on PCH and try a new route. Stopped at Mugu rock for a snack and enjoyed watching and listening to the surf and the birds. We'll be heading that way more often.

Mojo Slim

Hmmmmm. My ride might not have been as calming. We got to watch a moving RV burst into flames and become destroyed. Tires popped, but no propane. The firefighters may have saved most of the car it was towing.

SaiKaiTai

It's not so much the ride itself that I'm thinking of; rather that feeling of "oneness" with the bike.
It goes where and when I want, as fast or as slow as I want... almost like a mechanical horse.

I love that feeling. Me and my Arrow...

The Weak Link

to be one with bike
mistakenly cut your veins
and you spill Tri-Flow

SaiKaiTai

This has actually happened to me, yes

Mojo Slim

SKT
Check your PM

cyclehen

reminds me of being 10 years old again... isn't a bike a great thing!