Early Intake

This is a place I headed on my bike ride this morning. An unexpected pleasure of continuing to draw rather than attend meetings in El Portal. Rented a Trek for the day and discussed a ride with the rec folks here at Evergreen. The guide asked how I was with hills. Fine I said. I like hills. And he even mentioned that it was a canyon I would be descending. Twelve miles seemed viable so I headed out with the other half of my salmon bagel from breakfast, some water, my camera and drawing stuff. It was all downhill from there. 

Tacking between thrill and terror (not unlike Wren's motorcycle inspired days in Santorini), I flew, then braked off and on for miles. My gravity fueled power cut a vertical swath toward the Tuolumne River. The road's edge is close and the drop far so I hug the mountain despite increasing my risk of a head-on. Crystal blue sky behind tall redwoods extend the vertical pull. I thought to myself this is one of the most breathtaking rides I've taken. 

Then I started remembering. I have to go home, back, upward. How far had I come already?This is the effortless part. I wanted to keep going, but I had to make it back. I turned around, and started up. My bike was not very nuanced in gear shifting. Felt like there were a few missing between the easiest and the next easiest. Add a little odd clicking and it wasn't long before visions of parching in high altitude, using up the available oxygen, took hold. Turned out the actual distance fell far short of the psychological distance. I was home in two hours, sore but back.