the tao of cycling: oh, the water

Sunday, May 17, 2009

oh, the water

the wasatch front had one of its first completely stunning days, today, and I was one of the lucky ones who was able to play in it.
it was an absolutely perfect day for a ride up a canyon.
a big canyon.
a long canyon.
with some good steep sections.

it was my first ride up big cottonwood canyon this season, and I am quite pleased to announce that I survived. I had to tweak my mindset going into it --- you know how important I believe mindset to be --- that I would get to the top best by not stressing about how long it was taking me to get there.
which is the way I proceeded, and what kept me going even when I didn't want to be. which would be the last 3 miles or so. yikes, it just keeps climbing and climbing and climbing, and then --- thank you, greatly, God --- it ends. the rounded green roof I can see from a point about 50 yards away is a shining beacon that greets me and lets me know I made it. of course, those last 50 yards are among the steepest of the entire canyon, and my legs always let me know it.

but enough about the ride: what I want most to write about is the water.
oh, the water.
the creek is crashing and booming, flinging water skyward as it bounces over rocks and boulders. the water is clear and white with froth, energized by the influx of millions of gallons of water seeping from the rocky hillsides and soggy crevices that line the canyon walls. it is mighty, it is proud, and it is something I could sit and watch for hours.
well, at least 10 minutes.
maybe.

oh, the water.
van morrison sings a song (it stoned me) that kept flowing through my mind today as I rode alongside this powerful creek. I know I've been on a lyrics kick lately, but in all honesty, music and lyrics are almost always floating and circulating and streaming through my mind.
today I heard van's voice, over and over, as he sang while my legs went round and round and round:

oh, the water,
oh, the water,
oh, the water,
get it myself from the mountain stream.

it's difficult to believe anything could be wrong in a world that holds big cottonwood canyon in the palm of its hand.

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the Male Ego

The other day I was coming down a canyon in my drop bars (two years ago I would have said, 'what's a drop bar?'), working hard, when I came up on two guys who were also heading downhill but at a more leisurely pace. I passed them, said hello as I did so, and pulled back into the bike lane. a few minutes later they went flying past me, faces looking dead ahead, not a single bit of acknowledgment that I even existed on this planet let alone was involved in and enjoying the same sport they were.
I have to attribute this to the male ego. what else can it be? now I know we all have egos, myself included. and mine even shows its ridiculous little head once in a while, or perhaps more often. but the difference between mine and say, those of certain men on bicycles, is that I KNOW mine exists and I can LAUGH at mine. I know my ego was quite excited to pass those guys, and I could also smile because I knew if the men had really been working like I was, they would have kicked my butt down the hill.
I think I pissed them off.
and I'm sure I will be sharing with you much more of my thoughts about the male ego . . .

a little history

I was married, and I had a mountain bike which I rarely rode. we separated, I moved out, and four months later someone stole my bike. the next spring, 2005, I bought myself a new mountain bike. I rode occasionally, and in april 2006 I rode in my first century, the Cactus Hugger in St. George, Utah. I made it 54 miles on that mountain bike, and it took me about 6 hours. I think that included the rest stops where I prayed that someone would steal my bike again . . .
in june 2006 I started riding my mountain bike five mornings a week, a 45-55 minute loop that was intended to be all about exercise. and what I found was that I loved the quiet, peaceful morning full of bird chatter and barely breaking sunrises. by that fall I was hooked, and began considering the purchase of a road bike. I rode up emigration canyon for the first time that Labor Day of 2006, panting and plowing along on my trusty (heavy) bike, and a month later I was the proud owner of my own road bike: I had become a two-bike girl!
a 17-week-long "power camp" over the winter and a handful of new friends kept bicycling front and center in my life, and when spring of 2007 rolled around I was ready to hit the pavement. I rode my first century the end of april, when I again went to St. George and completed that Cactus Hugger. it took me about 7 hours, but this time I rode the entire 100 miles with about 9300 feet of vertical gain. woo hoo!
I started riding canyons around our area, emigration and millcreek, city creek, big cottonwood, little mountain and big mountain, and once--yes, only once--little cottonwood.
then in september of 2007, I rode from Logan, Utah, to Jackson, Wyoming, in the slightly infamous LOTOJA race. I rode, I did not race. and I completed the thing, crediting my good training buddies, the incredibly perfect weather, my support team, and an amazing convergence of all things positive in the universe.
I put in about 3500 miles last season, and as of today, july 19, 2008, I have about 1700 in, adding to it every day.
I have again signed on to ride the LOTOJA race, and my goal is to have just somewhere near as great a ride as I did last year. oh, and to have someone fun to talk with along the way as I got incredibly bored last year . . . star valley is still a nightmare scene in my biking memories . . .
and here is a picture of the machine that has helped me reclaim my life.