Author: Leon Matz
After my fall and femur break many caring people came to see me in the hospital and many of them said “Well this puts an end to your cycling career for good”. When I told them that I had plans to get back on the bike, they looked at me as if I was crazy. Unfortunately, many of these people were not cyclists and had no idea what it is like to be on a bike with friends working hard but enjoying every minute. I wish they could have been with me today, because they would all become cyclists and Cyclopaths.
The day started early with Mike Hassur driving us out to The Climb to start on our bikes by 6:00. When we climbed out of his van the only sounds we could hear were birds singing their morning song. The temperature was a wonderful 50 degrees with a few clouds in the sky. As we headed up The Climb, Mike patiently road slow since my power output is still pretty low. We talked about everything from cycling to family. As we headed down, Mark joined us. The 3 of us continued riding and visiting - enjoying the nice weather. After an hour and a half or so Martin joined us. One of the wonderful things about training at The Climb is that people can join the ride at any time.
On this day everyone drove out, so all of our riding was either up or down. On one of our trips up the last 2 K, two deer visited us. It is always special for me to see animals on our ride (except chasing dogs).
After 3 ½ hours of riding, it struck me that we had only seen one car the whole time. To ride a bike for 5 hours, see perhaps 5 cars and be able to carry on great conversations with 3 other wonderful guys while pushing yourself physically and mentally recharging your batteries - is fabulous.
For me, it doesn’t get any better than this. We have always been known as a group of guys “who see the glass half full”. Today, after The Climb, I am not a ½ full glass but an overflowing cup - great activity, great weather, great friends, and great conversations. I can’t imagine having a better Saturday morning. Well - to be truthful - if I could climb a little faster and not have others waiting for me, it would be a little better. That will come with time.
The four of us rode together until about 11:15 - when we climbed off our bikes, shook hands and thanked each other for a delightful morning and said “goodbye”. THANKS MIKE, MARTIN, AND MARK.!!!!
A video collage from this ride can be found at the following URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKiABGCTai0&feature=youtu.be .
No comments:
Post a Comment