solidarity and night lights

my friend ivy is riding the race across oregon today.
and tonight.
and tomorrow.
and possibly even part of tomorrow night.
520 miles: she began at 5 am this morning and by 4 pm had 145 miles behind her . . . can you imagine having ridden 145 miles and thinking to yourself, gosh, only 375 left to go?

the thought alone exhausts me.

I, in solidarity, am going to join her spirit out on the road tonight, in the dark.
okay, it's only partly about ivy, with the larger chunk being about my upcoming relay race next friday/saturday. race, hah. event, better.
since I will be riding during the day, then during the night, then during the day again, I decided that it would be good for me to experiment with a little day riding/night riding.
so . . .
today I rode 80 miles. and now I've had a break for (more than) a few hours, and I'm getting ready to head back out again as soon as it gets dark.
I've got my super bright tail light, my mega-watt front light, my reflective vest-thingee (which looks more like a super-sized bright green upper-body jock strap than anything else), two water bottles chilling, and, well, a slightly-anxious me.
I've ridden in the early-morning dark many times, but it always lightens up by the end of my ride. and I've usually had a healthy(ish) amount of sleep before heading out.
this will be a new experience.
I'm going to head up the canyon so it will be nice and dark, like the highway we'll be riding next friday night, and so that I'll have a descent to learn how to navigate without sunlight.
right now the trick is mostly about keeping myself from falling asleep before it's time to leave.

and then there's ivy.
who will probably finish her 520-mile race in about 40 total hours (that's my guess).
the least I can do is go ride for two hours in the dark tonight, sending positive energy and good vibes up into the night sky, directing it in a north-westerly direction, asking that it float down and find her wherever she may be, and give her just a teeny, tiny little boost.