that's what eric gave me as advice before my first time trial. it was good advice, although if he'd been giving me advice about how to ride a TT in huntington, he might have included some advice about not getting run over. sometimes you say it like a stupid see you later: "hey, don't get run over!" but in huntington it has special meaning because the locals will run you over if they get the chance, or at least they'll honk and laugh if you fall off your bike, and they will threaten to kill you. they have to lift their knuckles off of the ground in order to shake a fist in your general direction, but once they remember the muscle sequence, they manage to make it intimidating.
of course, i have just unfairly categorized the population of an entire town, some residents of which have two eyebrows that lie quietly side-by-side as opposed to one on top of the other. i wish to excuse rumblestrip, her husband, pets, and any neighbors of whom she is fond from unnecessary hyperbolic vitriol. come to think of it, i wish to excuse the enmans as well.
as for the rest of you, when we stop getting death threats, i'll reconsider my position.
but of course, tonight we weren't riding huntington; we were riding jonesville, which is long and although it is flat-ish, it is quite painful if you do it right.
my legs are sore. my lungs have been sufficiently punished. my squishy bits hurt. and out on the course i was passed by four riders and then kicked it up and passed that one rider back.
now, at these venues, you actually hear people say "allez, allez", and it's what i said to crashco as he passed me, but then when i overtook him again i remembered enough french in addition to "allez, allez" to make some peppery suggestions about what he might go do with himself and i called him a name besides.
he doesn't care. he faces this kind of abuse with equanimity and the knowledge that somewhere in my bag i have brought him a very fine, very dark bar of chocolate. i got some for myself, too, which i am washing down with chocolate milk from the strafford organic creamery, drunk right out of the bottle.
besides this sort of decadence i also am not as practiced at the quick change as i used to be, and therefore mooned the southbound lane of interstate 89 for a while, because they're too distant and moving too fast to hear the traditional call of "if you don't want to see my butt don't look over here!"
the official figure is in, too: i am fifty (FIFTY!) pounds heavier than i was the last time i rode this or any race course, and despite the extra weight i think i rode pretty well. while i was standing waiting for my start, the train went by. route 2 is very close to the tracks here, and i stood, watching. remembering. knowing and being thankful that it's not my train. maybe it isn't my train, but my hand goes to my heart and then i lift it heavenward, and the engineer waves.
do you ever find out things about places and then wish you hadn't? there's a place on route two (i won't tell you exactly where, but the racecourse passes over it) where the brother of a man i used to know was assaulted. he was struck in the face with a tire iron and didn't even live to see the inside of the ambluance.
i can't ride that stretch of road without wishing i didn't know. can't avoid it now, but i can say a prayer for the repose of his soul. couple other things, too. i saw bert today and i don't think he's ever seen me when i'm feeling well. i'm not sure, but i think this was day four. and as i was just telling rumblestrip, i know where the gratitude is properly placed.
so i'm going to go have a shower and wash this day off of me. tomorrow i'll go have some ECT and mrs. crashco will pick me up at my house. we're going out for pizza, probably with the Tharaglebs and we're going to go hear a concert that rumblestrip is in.
besides standard road dirt, there's always a lot i have to wash off of me at day's end; i am never as kind or gracious as i want to be. i rarely get to the end of the day and feel as if i have used every breath, every gift to best advantage. i can hope, though. every day i hope to be a better person today than i was yesterday. i have better luck some days than others.
rumblestrip says she doesn't really believe in luck; so okay, some days i create better circumstances than others. i'm going to go have a shower and light a candle. i'm going to have a few things to say about gratitude and forgiveness. i'm going to trust bob to help me sort it out.
you have a good evening, too. i hope you'll be a better person tomorrow than you were today, and i hope you'll recognize where gratitude is properly placed. i hope you'll be kind and gracious, and that you are treated gently. i hope that while you're riding the roads that you don't get run over, and that you always manage to keep the rubber side down.
we tell each other that sometimes on the start line.
stay safe. go fast. and i hope that when you cross the finish line, you are pleased with your ride and that you can look back on it and know you chose the right gears, stayed out of the potholes, and used every breath to push hard and ride fair.
remember, it's rubber side down.
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