100 By Christmas

Achieved! With ten hours to spare. Ride #100 of 2013 is now behind me.

35 F at 2:00, December 24, 2013, Lemonstar

Just a week ago it seemed inconceivable that two more rides would be possible. There was a foot of snow on the ground and waking temperatures hovered around zero. But by the day before Christmas, a melt-back had taken place and skies dawned clear, blue, bright, and radiant with sun.

However, as is often the pattern here in central Massachusetts, the bright morning sun gave way to the "high gauzies," an ashy thin cloud cover that dulled the sun's brightness and hid the blue sky. By 1:00 the sharpness of the day had given way to a skein of gray like the color of paper wasp nests. But the temps were above freezing, the roads, despite two prior days of Dickensian rain & drizzle, were dry, and Shad was ready to ride.

I headed west, into the hills, a Sholan Loop of Plenty.

Sholan Farm, December 24, 2013

There was little traffic. People were elsewhere. The dependable tarmac sliced across the landscape; past the apple trees, craggy and grasping; past the community garden with its old brittle sunflower stalk sentries, resigned in the cold; past the sign declaring Sholan Farm closed for the season; and into the forest and down the hill and further into the wilds of Sterling and Princeton.

Closed for the Season

There's a Norwegian adage that says "there's no bad weather, only bad clothing." I'd say, "only bad cycling clothes." Dressed properly, you stay warm and dry and there's no discomfort at all. Only bitter cold is hard to overcome. I've dressed well for most rides this year though I actually overdressed today and had to shed my bright orange windbreaker not long into the ride. Definitely a PBR day though.

Shad Rides 100, December 24, 2013, Lemonstar

All season biking for fun is one thing, but these folks in Colorado go to extremes, challenging themselves in the Icy Bike Winter Commuter Challenge. You really need the right gear to do this kind of thing, not to mention gumption, grit, and a streak of determined madness.

Instead, for me it's the solitude of the midday meander, the peace of steady rhythmic pedaling through the empty roadways in the hills beyond the city limits. The ride as meditation. The ride as a diamond razor. The ride as a declaration of Living and a metaphor of Being. The road continually unfolding ahead, beckoning, urging you onward, promising nothing that isn't already in your own imagination, that isn't already part of your own wisdom cache. The road delivers you to yourself.

Following the Road

2013 draws to a close. I began the year in pain, my bloated self a repository of residual angst, anger, and grief. I had no high hopes for the year; I merely hoped to avoid surgical procedures and hospital stays. And then something strange began to unfold. I made a commitment to myself to get better, to feel better, to change. I started to track what I ate at livestrong. I went to a Buddhist meditation retreat at Zen Mountain Monastery and learned to sit still. I lost 20 lbs. I began riding in earnest, with focus, with joy.

Now, at the end of my one hundredth ride of 2013, I am more than I was at the beginning of the year, but burdened with less baggage. Through cycling, I continue to learn who I am. Like bicycle wheels powered by determined legs, my life roles onward powered by a determined spirit.

Just Returned from Ride # 100
Eager for the Year to Come

Ride Stats: # 100, 24.64 miles (39 km), 12.9 mph, 1H 43M in the saddle. 35 degrees F to start, 33 at ride's end.