Sweat Talk
It was late afternoon on an average sort of summer day. Even before we hit the small knoll into Plainfield I could tell something was off. It’s hard to hide on a tandem.
Why
I am an intermediate practitioner of endurance sports – enough to do things that less than 1% of the world has ever done, insufficient to rank among them. Their company is enough.
The Ordinariness of Extraordinary Things
I came into adolescence knowing that super powers exist. It is wrong to expect that others will understand them, and unwise to name them.
Tribe
At times, it was too much. I recall days dreading how I would bake in the afternoon sun or how the driving headwinds blasted through the river valleys. I didn’t always get out the door, but apparently I went often enough.
Double Century
I rolled up to their house some 270 miles richer and with back to back century rides in the bag. This was the eternal family car ride on the interstate laid out in cycling terms. I could now measure it in turns of pedals, back roads, shady hideaways, whispering rivers, and long climbs.