neighbors

I've just returned from spending a few days in huntsville. we stayed in a condo which had a balcony on its backside, overlooking pineview reservoir. the weather was perfect, the views gorgeous, and the neighbors.... well, we had neighbors.

interesting neighbors. those to our east spent their days going for rides, taking picnic lunches. the first afternoon I overheard the woman making plans: she was speaking (loudly) on her phone, out on the balcony, and I heard "going for a ride" and "pasta salad" and "jello salad" and meeting at nine the next morning.

now there are many different ways to go for a ride. could be on a bicycle.... but probably not, given the salads for lunch. could be on a motorcycle.... you never know. turns out, it was by car. which is probably the safest way to transport salads to a picnic.

the neighbors to the west were an interesting group as well. we were unloading our bicycles while they were doing the same, and since all of the bikes were Specialized bikes, a conversation began. turns out that one of the gentlemen works for Specialized in their salt lake warehouse, and then we had all sorts of fun things to talk about. his wife told us that he'd lost a hundred pounds last year, and had become quite the cyclist. (his calves were almost as big around as my thighs wish they were.) he is riding lotoja next saturday, and he was in his taper mode as well.

then he told me about a ride he'd done this past May, a 333 mile, 3-day ride in central-ish utah. it begins in fish lake, rides to brian head on day one, rides to escalante on day two, and continues from escalante back to fish lake on the final day. I believe this neighbor said the total elevation gain is about 24,000 feet for the three days, but to be honest, the facts just slid through my brain because it was a bit astonishing. the ride is called the Tour de South, and you can find their website at www.tourdesouthcom.

so, there are rides, and there are rides, and even within the category of bike rides, there are a thousand different lengths, difficulties, and forms. what I know for sure (thanks, oprah) is that just as I was thrilled to ride to causey dam and snow basin this weekend, there are thousands of other beautiful places I would be every bit as thrilled to ride to.

and next may, you just might find me hopping into my car and driving down to central-ish utah and jumping on my bike one morning by the side of fish lake . . .