freeze frame

there are moments of my cycling life that I often wish I could freeze:  stop the action, take a 360 degree shot of the moment, somehow distill it into a memory drop that I can access again at any moment, feeling the thrill, the joy, the gloriousness of those incredible moments.

• swooping down little mountain, headed to the reservoir, after the 10-mile climb is behind me
• crossing the finish line at lotoja, especially that first year
• cresting my 6th high mountain pass on day 2 of the double-triple-bypass, knowing that it was all downhill from there
• riding past the bear, who startles and lopes off into a yard, his brown hind end high and shaggy
• coasting down into ouray, colorado, from red mountain pass, pedaling through "little switzerland"
• surprising and being surprised by the coyote the dozen times I have this summer
• laughing at the oblivious porcupines waddling across the road
• being face to face with an owl as daylight begins opening up the morning

I don't know the trick for remembering these---and more---extraordinary moments, except that it must begin with acknowledging them for the gifts they are, then writing them down in attempts to capture the essence if not the entire event.  too easily they slip to dark corners, get lost, disappear, much like those of our childhood, of our earlier lives, even of raising our own children.

I hope to hold these forever.  and I hope to keep adding to the list (and not just moments related to cycling) because I've been told there's limitless room in our memory banks . . . we might as well do our damnedest to fill them to overflowing, so that some day when it's dark and quiet we can relive them in our minds, reassuring ourselves of how fabulous it's been to be fully alive.