The Shad, the Heifer and Cosmic Communiques

With the bad news out of Germany last week, with a surfeit of riding, and with the demands of what is now looking like the move of Chez Shad from Lemonstar to Wormtown, I've given scant attention to the second organized event of the season in which Team Shad has a role, namely the Tour de Heifer. Unlike the Rasputitsa, that fiercely contested race of 400 or so cyclists in northern Vermont two months ago, the Tour de Heifer is a "friendly" (to borrow some soccer parlance); that is, it's an organized ride but not a timed race. Two of Team Shad's three team members will be at the starting line: Shaddy Dubstoevsky and The Virginian. I-Ward, though training hard for the last few months, will miss this ramble due to prior commitments.

The human animal, though imbued with the capacity for reason and logical thinking, nevertheless seems predisposed to interpreting events & occurrences as possible predictors or influencers of future events. Superstition, omens, signs, hunches, intuition, "gut feelings," all of these are familiar to most sports enthusiasts and participants. Shaddy Dub is no different.

A beautiful Saturday morning of what promises to be a hot sunny weekend, I sit down on the back porch of team HQ with a one pint latte and the Boston Globe crossword puzzle. Clue # 1 across? "Deep-bodied herring," four letters. S-H-A-D. Allez! An auspicious portent! This little wink & nod from the Unfathomable Vast Otherness buoys me, excites me. I immediately think that the Cosmos have sent me a small message of encouragement, a sign that says "Go forth, deep-bodied Shadness, and conquer the Heifer."

Why not? Reason and logic are powerful tools in the human toolkit but superstition and the Great Unknown are important variables as well. Logic limits but the cautious acceptance of cosmic messaging expands the realm of possibility to the Infinite.

What better thought process to carry onto the rugged back country dirt roads of southern Vermont than one that says "you are being watched over by powers greater than yourself"? Indeed. The turn of the crank, the revolving Wheel of Shad, 62 miles of dirt road and steep hills, of heat and pollen, of farmland and woodland, the Tour de Heifer awaits.

"Deep-bodied herring"