the tao of cycling: the chinese fortune

Saturday, July 3, 2010

the chinese fortune

a month or so ago I cracked open a fortune cookie, pulled out the skinny little paper and read,
you will be showered by good luck before your next birthday.
seeing as my birthday was only a few weeks ahead, I was quite excited. this was finally one of those fortunes you could prove to either be a correct prediction or a bunch of hooey.
I was hoping for the former.

I am an optimist, I am always hopeful. every time I open a fortune cookie and read something good about myself or my future, I believe it. I wouldn't consider myself superstitious, I just believe that there aren't many accidents in life, that coincidences really aren't, and that serendipity loves to dance around, teasing us with her playfulness.

thus I haven't been surprised as I've tallied up my list of how I've been showered with good luck in the weeks leading up to my birthday:

I've been given a (paid) writing assignment
I've been invited to go do things with new people
two saving angels rescued me after I crashed, calling a friend to take me to the ER
I met a cute doctor (okay, he's married and a decade younger than me, but still)
people have brought dinner to my home, twice
john lent me his smooth, automatic-shifting car so I could drive
someone sent me flowers
someone brought me lunch and lent me their i-pad to play with for a couple days
I have at least one hundred cheery orange day lilies blooming in my yard
I found a great sale at one of my favorite clothing stores
my mom baked me peach pie for my birthday
someone left a gently tied bundle of fresh lavender on my doorstep
I've received no less than three exquisite, small boxes of (yummy) chocolate
I've been gifted with cards, texts, phone calls, emails, presents, hugs, and heartfelt wishes on my birthday
my son has been mowing the lawn for me because I can't (woo hoo!)
and to top it all off, I have a brand new, beautiful piece of titanium decorating my clavicle, with a possible airport security release card in my future!

that skinny little piece of shiny paper with 11 magical words on it was thus proven to be an accurate predictor of my future.
and I think I might just keep it around, and apply it toward my next birthday as well.

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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.