this morning...

not to different from last night's post work ride

today I was scheduled to work the late shift

my coworker needed to leave early

so to balance the scales we agreed that I could come in a few minutes late

a few minutes late for the late shift would grant me enough time for a solid prework ride

a ride that would take place after a morning with Dean and Grant which included dropping Dean off at school

lisa had walked the dogs

I had taken Dean to school... I passed Grant off to lisa as he had come with me for drop off

we blew each other kisses and I blew out the back door

well... after I got suited up for another wintery day

layers upon layer of expensive gear all made from old two liter bottle of Coca Cola

with a helmet on my head, a backpack on my back, and bicycle under my bum I headed down my alley away from the street

the alley behind my house dead ends into a very eroded plot of park land that has a very well worn path... it is too short to ride, but it gets me to street in front of my house faster than the street route

not to mention it aids in setting the tone of DIRT better than pointing out the same direction I point out every morning

there was all the time in the world for any and everything that I wished to accomplish in roughly 2 hours time....

for these two hours my intention was to spin up roads and down dirt

well.. the dirt tends to be more roller coaster than a downhill grade, but the path I had intended to take would allow me to ride up paved roads rather than hiking along side my bike on terrain that is either too steep or too moist for my current pre-season conditioning

it did not take too many cars passing me too fast and too close for me to feel guiltless about ignoring that little brown sign with the little white bike all covered up by and ugly red anti symbol

each car adding fuel to the fire

rationalizations pumping through my already corrupt mind

just as the sign says "no bikes" the signs on the road read 25MPH

just as the sign says "no bikes" the double yellow line clearly states no passing

just as we know the law is no bikes, we know the law is no cellular phones while driving unless it is a hands free apparatus

just as we know the law is no bikes, we all know that a dog must be on a 6 foot lead

I know the law

we all know the law

things have become anarchy

if the law will not protect and serve me...

if the law leaves me to grit my teeth and fight for my 3 feet of road when I pay taxes like everyone else

if I am forced to take this.... then I might as well take that

when stepping away from the very weak attempts for justification I fall back on a simple thought that makes a little more sense

it is said that I could lose my bike for riding on the trails marked "no bikes"

well... that would suck

but not as bad as losing my life to a speeding SUV that failed to realize that I have just as much right to the road as they do

so opt to take my chances with the random chance of meeting up with officer friendly rather than taking my chances with some soccer mom speeding to make her nail appointment at the mall

so as the last car brushes past my left side just oh so close I move closer to the right and hop the half curb onto the grass, over onto the trail, and into the woods

this section of trail runs along side the road

as I ride fast and hard on the less than technical trail I am at ease that the obstacles before me are not driven by some executive checking his day planner on his Blackberry

this stretch of trail brings me to a short single track loop

I enter the single track and quickly reminded that this is winter time and I am not in race shape

my legs and lungs are failing me as much as my technical

small obstcales and even smaller drop offs are causing hesitation and reluctance

rolling in rather than dropping off nearly sends me over the falls.... with my 26 inch wheel and a shock that is far too squishy for my 235pound body

the short climbs that were sprints become slow grinds and even slower walks

this is just the humbling that I need to make me realize that race conditioning does not come with the change of season

such things come with work; work being something that I tend to try to avoid

a few loops here bring me to a point where I can see my effect on the now thawed mud sections of trail

I pause and wait as a runner comes by with his leashless dog

I give a smile and a good morning and get a lecture and a tongue lashing

both from the runner as the dog knows he is in the wrong and keeps his mouth shut

to the "no bikes on the trail" I respond, "dogs must be on a leash"

again

"no bikes on the trail"

"dogs need to be on the leash"

knowing we will go no where with this arguement
yet it may have gone that way a few more times

this guy yells something about who knows what when I then reach into my bag of smart ass responses and quote scripture..."let he who is without sin cast the first stone"

for this the older maybe mid 50s gentlemen considers coming back...

but stalls and says "so... you are a good christian... bet you voted for Bush"

to this I say "No and NO! can't you tell that I am mocking you?"

we go our separate ways....

over a beer I think I could be this guy's friend

I like his spirit and his self centeredness

he reminds me of myself

he goes his way

I go mine

I get back onto the road to climb up and hit another loop

that loop is done twice encountering another leashless dog whose walker has no response for my pleasant good morning

eventually I am at work

refreshed and revived

feeling like a million bucks, tax free!

coffee or no other drug can give a person this feeling

this feeling is earned

all that other stuff is just a cheap immitation

the ride was great

just what I needed to show me that I need to not only get my ass in shape

also I need to learn to keep my mouth shut and "turn the other cheek"