As Fall fades into Winter, the opportunities to get out on the High Plains gravel are fading too. We changed up the way we normally do our Fall / Winter transition this year and journeyed down to Galveston Bay in October instead of December, so we could watch the grandkids play football and baseball. The ballgames are finished by the time we normally launch our “snowbird bus” in that direction. Life’s always morphing and changing though, so it’s best to stay flexible and adjust to the present moment.
October is normally high season on the High Plains for crushing gravel, but this year we spent it hanging out on Galveston Bay in shorts and sandals, drinking the local Oktoberfest, eating freshly prepared seafood and watching “TNT” dominate the gridiron. “TNT” is the nickname the announcers gave our grandson T. because of his explosive ability in the open field. He scored seven touchdowns in the three games we watched, and we were bursting with pride every time he raced into the end zone.
The adventure was definitely worth the sacrifice of missing the October gravel season on the High Planes. We didn’t take the bikes for our Texas October, so by the time we navigated the torrential rains in Central Texas, weathered the Snowmegeddon storm on the High Plains and made it back to the cottage, it’s been nearly two months since I went for a bike ride. But the drought has ended with the mild Fall weather, and I was able to put a couple nice rides together.
“Earth and sky, woods and fields, lakes and rivers, the mountain and the sea, are excellent schoolmasters, and teach us more than we can ever learn from books.” ~ John Lubbock
The big difference between riding in June vs October is the sun and the temperature. In the summer I ride as early as possible to beat the heat and the high UV radiation. In October I wait around until the hottest, most intense sun of the day to go for a ride. Even then I need the jacket and wind pants to get started before the big muscles begin to generate body heat.
There was some snow in some of the deeper roadside ditches from the storm we raced to town, and it’s sort of odd riding in shorts and a lightweight jersey next to snow drifts. Most of the riding for the next few months will get done in the basement on the trainer since we’re probably not going to Texas for the Winter this year. At least that’s the present plan, but of course, that’s easy enough to change if we want – that’s the beauty of being retired, right?
Slow – The New Fast
It was cool when I launched Double Cross down the driveway for the second ride, so I was bundled up in multiple layers and donned the stocking cap. The legs were still a little sluggish from the previous ride so it was a slow start. I started thinking about how I tend to hyperfocus on how far or how fast I ride, or whether I’m improving my VO2max or some other cardiorespiritory marker. What about just going for a “Slow Ride,” enjoying the sunshine on my shoulder and the splendid isolation of the “High Planes.”
So I took a “Slow Ride,” looping a few of my favorite roads. I stopped often and strolled off to some feature, shape or color that caught my eye and took a few pictures. I laid down in one of my favorite meadows after eating a snack and watched the clouds race by, “slowly.” That’s what’s so attractive to me about cycling in the solitude of nature, there is a connection. It fires up my soul.
“This is a wonderful day. I have never seen this one before.” ~ Maya Angelou
While I lay on my back in the meadow, the clouds parted and the sun strengthened, filling my body with warmth and filling my soul with a magnificent feeling of Gratitude. We have so much to be thankful for and being out in nature on the bike enjoying a “Slow Ride” allowed me to see it all so clearly. Perhaps it’s just the season of “Thanksgiving.” As I mounted Double Cross to head home, I declared to the sky, “I love my life!”
