Y2

mountains don't bend to us, do they?
today I was hoping one would, and the stubborn thing just refused. time and time again. I was begging, my legs were sending out s.o.s. distress signals that I'm sure could be heard and understood by every person place and thing in a 10-mile radius, and that darn mountain just stood there, firmly planted and completely unbending.
geez.

I conquered another peak today. and this one is going in the "been there done that" category, along with the kamas-up-the-mirror-lake-highway-to-the-summit ride.
at least it's going there today.

it's about 24 miles from the entrance to the winding canyon to the top of the mount nebo loop, though if you asked me to pinpoint where the top of that loop is I'm not sure I could tell you. it has so many ridiculous false summits that I have no idea where the point of highest elevation is. I know I was there at some moment: that's all I can say for certain.
there was a spot where I pulled off the road and gazed at mt. nebo, off to our right, and took a few pictures for people on their i-phones and cell phones (now, what do I push? oh, that little teeny square box on the side of the screen? ok, let me know if you need a do-over).
I think this was some kind of summit.
but then we went down a bit and around and then up a bit again.
and then down and around and up a lot.
and then down.
and down.
and then up again: I almost swore at that point.
well, I did. my legs made me do it.

year 2 has begun with a bang.

I can now officially add the mt. nebo loop to my list of conquered peaks, and I am quite happy to be able to do so.
I made the right decision the other day, by choosing C, and then convincing myself I could also do B.
and the great thing about making decisions is that they almost always seem to work out in the end. in fact, I recently read a great quote with which I will close today, a quote attributed to some unknown sage:

everything will be okay in the end.
if it's not okay, it's not the end.

this or that or possibly, something completely different

back to decisions:
this happens to me. I can be going along, thinking I'll do either A or B, when I have a conversation with someone who points out that C is an option as well, and next thing I know A and B are out the window and I'm thinking C is the best idea since sliced bread. or air cartridges. or mint mojitos.

what happened is that this morning after yoga I chatted with biking bob, talking about potential weekend rides. he was concerned that both options (those would be A and B, today) would turn into all-day events. he is right about that. and that both were rides where you had to drive to the starting point. oh, I don't like that either.
he mentioned that he'd rather just ride out the door and go up big mountain, down to east canyon, and then maybe go further if he/we/whomever felt like it (this would be C) . . .
he's right, that's what I'd rather do . . .

suddenly C is the right thing.

but then I said, how about doing that saturday, so that if I decide I want to do the Mt. Nebo thing I could still do that on sunday . . .

so now you've been updated with my current thoughts about the weekend rides. I am always torn with wanting certain new experiences, but not wanting to make an entire day event out of them. which then starts me wondering about why that is: why do I not want to spend the whole day out there doing something I like, with people who are probably right up my alley (or bike lane)?
the only answer I can come up with is that there are just too many other things I like to do. or want to do. or need to (eventually) do. (the latter category includes things like laundry, dusting, vacuuming, putting things away, going grocery shopping, keeping up on correspondence, and oh yes, more dusting.)
it's hard to give up the bulk of a day, especially when you return disgustingly sweaty and grimy and tired, to boot.

so, once again I am postponing any real decision. things are formulating in my mind, different scenarios for the weekend adjusting, comparing and contrasting themselves, and I'm quite unsure of the ultimate outcome.

but I have a feeling C will be in there somewhere.

and here's a sneak preview: tomorrow I plan to write about guns.
stay tuned!