Not A Bad Life
I'm writing this from the mid point of my biweekly mountainbike ride up westridge fire road.
This ride is one of the few times during the week when I can put on the headphones, climb on my bike and see nothing but dirt, plants and streams for an hour or so.
It's also the time when I almost throw up and my legs feel like hot metal is being poured through my veins.
Such is the feeling I had moments ago before reaching this tor/resting spot. After getting off the bike and trying to convince my lungs to accept just a little more air so I wouldn't pass out, I looked around -- towards the coastline snaking into the distance, downtown l.a., telephone pools on mulholland drive, the san fernando valley: the mountains over malibu and oxnard. The beauty calmed me -- a moment of bliss in this city of lights.
I noticed a fellow biker coming up the trail. I'm a little strange when it comes to other mountainbikers. I feel a camraderie for those who like the same things I do: especially those guys who don't get all dressed up like they're lance armstrong and poster children for the post office) but at the same time, when I'm pedaling up a tough hill, I hate to get passed up by somebody, especially if it's a 300lb. guy on a huffy hardtail wearing Keds.
So when this guy pedaled up to my spot, I expected a comment about my bike (Giant nrs1). Instead, he said, "not a bad life, huh?).
Yeah, not a bad life. I'd ride with that guy anytime.
This ride is one of the few times during the week when I can put on the headphones, climb on my bike and see nothing but dirt, plants and streams for an hour or so.
It's also the time when I almost throw up and my legs feel like hot metal is being poured through my veins.
Such is the feeling I had moments ago before reaching this tor/resting spot. After getting off the bike and trying to convince my lungs to accept just a little more air so I wouldn't pass out, I looked around -- towards the coastline snaking into the distance, downtown l.a., telephone pools on mulholland drive, the san fernando valley: the mountains over malibu and oxnard. The beauty calmed me -- a moment of bliss in this city of lights.
I noticed a fellow biker coming up the trail. I'm a little strange when it comes to other mountainbikers. I feel a camraderie for those who like the same things I do: especially those guys who don't get all dressed up like they're lance armstrong and poster children for the post office) but at the same time, when I'm pedaling up a tough hill, I hate to get passed up by somebody, especially if it's a 300lb. guy on a huffy hardtail wearing Keds.
So when this guy pedaled up to my spot, I expected a comment about my bike (Giant nrs1). Instead, he said, "not a bad life, huh?).
Yeah, not a bad life. I'd ride with that guy anytime.
posted by Lou at 11:08 PM
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