the big ring

so last night i had my best ride of the season.

i got up through a lot of the climbing and just before that last steep part i thought maybe i would bump down from the middle chainring to the little chainring.

only i was in the big chainring, which means i still had a LOT of gears to go.

and i got to the thing called the green mountain parkway, which is a trail built over the remains of an old rock wall, a place where the big dogs habitually pass me, and i made it through without them.

looking over my shoulder the whole time and riding as if death itself were on my heels, i kept going, wanting them to catch me in the open, before the singletrack.

i was all the way up the last climb, in the field  and coming out of the last turn before the front of that huge rattling, roaring pack came up on my back, but i was sprinting up the chute and they were in the lap lane.

ride of my summer.

i feel GOOD.