Wings

This adventure girl is no fair weather rider

I woke up early this morning and decided to reach out to some friends in England. One of them, probably my closest friend the year I lived there, wrote back with some words of encouragement:

"Don't worry, the ones that run deep are the same ones that give us wings."

And I believe her. I do.

As my ipod reminded me this morning, so does Josh Ritter:

Yeah
It's my home—last night I dreamt that I grew wings
I found a place where they could hear me when I sing.

And today, even though the forecast included snow, rain, temperatures in the 30s and 40s, and strong winds, I decided to use my wings (with a little help from my Volvo) to head to Reedsburg for Fermentation Fest.

I was determined to "bike the Dtour" -- but decided to do half (approximately 25 miles) instead of all of it (50 miles) so that I could leave a few hours later and hopefully miss the rain.

My photos didn't manage to capture the beauty.

I set off about 1pm. This was my first long road ride on country roads -- and what a place to do it. It was hilly, and it was chilly, but man, was it beautiful.

Believe it or not -- and I guess you just might believe it since I've already described the weather -- I was the only cyclist I saw all day. Lots of people were driving the Farm/Art tour, but I was the only one on my bike this afternoon, at least that I saw. Which, I'm not gonna lie, just made me feel like more of a badass.

It also gave me plenty of time to just be in the present moment experiencing the day. Here were my big takeaways:


*Exceeding the speed limit on my road bike (in places where it was 25) was an awesome feeling.

*When it's really cold and windy, the downhills (although they allow you to go super fast) are super cold!

*Especially on those long climbs, I felt very grateful for both my fitness level and my fiery constitution.

*Cows are more interested in cyclists than one might think (or maybe I was just a little lonely).

*Wisconsin brat and beer cheese soup never tasted better than when I came in from the cold and my chicken and biscuit special included the soup bar for $7. Can't beat that!

*One cool thing about a long bike ride as opposed to a long run is that you can stop in the middle of burning tons of calories to eat a whole bunch, drink a beer, and then get right back on your bike without suffering for it.

*Spending four hours alone on a bike is good for the soul!