September 11, 2011

The state of the sunflowers are leading me to believe that fall is not far away.

Short, slow recovery ride this morning. Who am I kidding, recovery??? I just wanted to ride. Period. Addicted I am. Besides, the beautiful mornings like this one are soon to be a thing of the past (Welcome, Autumn), so I need to take advantage of the weather while it lasts.

I stayed on the roads that I know, nothing new and adventurous. Had enough of that yesterday. Yesterday? Seems like a distant memory, the burning legs, the labored breath... Yesterday,  I rode the Team Hole in the Wall Challenge. A charity ride benefiting the Hole in the Wall Camp, which was founded by Paul Newman. It was a wonderful ride, very, very well supported, SAG wagons, support on motorcycles, really excellent. For the times I found myself riding alone, there was always some guy on a motorcycle not far away if I needed anything. It was a very challenging ride. 62 miles of hills. I had a feeling when we left the camp and immediately started on a downhill, bad juju. The hills were not huge, not long, there were just a blessed ton of them. And, was it just me? There seemed to be no downhills in between them. Seems like you would just start picking up some speed and either you had to slow for a turn, or went right back up. The only place I really felt like I gained any speed was on the one rather big downhill where I caught enough momentum to get the bike up to 40.5 mph... personally the fastest I have ever gone. Now if you know me, you know how I hate going downhill fast, but either I have changed or something in me has changed because I am kinda sorta starting to like it.
Camp Hole in the Wall is such a good place, such a happy place, I tried to carry some of that wonder with me on the ride. The first pedal stroke brought out some tears, as did the last. That is to be expected, I guess. The feeling of being a  part of something that is so much bigger than myself, something that helps so many kids.  Thanks, Paul Newman!

A banner in the dining hall, thanks for the picture Billy!

Today, September 11th, I did my recovery ride, or my Karen just wants to get back on the bike and do a little "slow,Sunday morning, cruising down the road" ride. Not a lot to say about it, other than it was a good thing I had a pocket full of tissues. I got to see the gang of old men at the Dunkin' Donuts, sitting in their usual Sunday morning spot, the corner table, with their oxygen tanks hooked up. They gave me a smile and a nod, the usual!  Below are the pictures I took with my phone, on this morning.

A moment of silence outside of the church in Pine Meadow, I stopped and joined them for a few minutes. Left with my glasses fogged up and such a feeling of unity.

Everywhere, there were subtle reminders

Peace.