After work today I still had a 4 hour ride lingering on my horizon. Fudge, I am tired, really want to curl up and take a nap. Instead I roll out onto the highway into the wind, with a few drifting snowflakes floating past. I get into the rhythm of my spinning pedals, looking into the future, yet feeling very much in the now. Really enjoying the fast cruising on the skinny tires, using the drops to fly even with a headwind. I turn off Hwy 50, onto 149 and begin to climb.

“OK, maybe I’m a little cold”

Shortly after deciding “I Am Going to climb to the top of 9 Mile”, the wind picks up, the scattered snowflakes get thicker and heavier. Thing is once I am determined I can be stubborn to the point of stupidity. On up I climb. The road rolls by, as I gain altitude the snow gets thicker, the wind stronger. My face feels frozen stiff, my toes begin to tingle with the reality of riding through a winter storm. Just keep pedaling…..and I make it to the top. Hell Yes!

might be time to lose some elevation?

Now the snow is starting to stick. I lock up the brakes and find that the traction is just still fine. Ok time to point it down! As always the wind blows back at me as I attempt to descend effortlessly. Not on 9 Mile, I swear, it is never a free ride. Instead I stay in the drops, hover over my saddle and hammer into the wind. My legs scream with the effort. “Shut Up Legs” and just keep pedaling! Have to admit this whole road bike thing is starting to click into place. Despite the burn, I am loving this, I love this little steel machine!

Miss Woodrup, adventurer extraordinaire

I crank into town rolling on a tailwind. A good ride, but at just over 3 hours, it is not enough. I think of the trainer waiting at home, and instead turn onto Gold Basin Road, into the snow and the heavy clouded darkness. A bit more road, a bit more climbing till I hit dirt and then turn and hammer on home. My toes are about frozen, my cheeks feel raw. I make it home, throw the bike into the trainer and finish up the last half hour on the road to nowhere. Oh how slow the time goes on the trainer. Yet my thoughts drift off into the worlds of why I am doing this. Why I went out to ride, when I really wanted and would usually have taken, a nap. The easy road is a thing of the past. I have big dreams and big dreams require dedication and devotion. Sounds kind of hard core, but really, I think it is Love!

…cause life is too short to stay inside….