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In appreciation of all the support this past year as I've made it through this year-long journey, I will be giving away a matted 8x10 photograph of your choice from the blog. To be eligible, just go to the Biking for Food page, https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Biking-For-Food/195617567118633, and hit LIKE and you will automatically be entered. The drawing will be January 1, 2012. Thank you!
********************************************I seemed to go to bed in a cranky mood and, after a semi-rough night sleep, woke up in an off-kilter mood as well. The morning was gray but the wind had not picked up yet. Rain was in the forecast, so I wanted to get a ride in early.
On the morning walk:
By the time I did make it out, the wind had kicked in but the skies had cleared up somewhat allowing the sun out; a pretty good compromise.
I left from home, making my way down the hill on Hwy 45 and turning on Habberton Rd; riding on it felt very special after making mention of it yesterday on the blog. I looked back over my shoulder at the hillside from where I would have taken the picture and thought of taking one from down below. But there wasn't the sense of connectivity I was seeking. A picture of the hillside from Habberton Rd would include a caption along the lines of: "And, if you look very closely at that spot right there near where there's a tree and a house - that's where I took the picture looking down into the valley." A bunch of words makes a muddled and out-of-focused picture.
I thought of venturing out and making a loop down through Wyman Valley and up over Round Mountain. But, I decided to stick the Habberton area. A sight I saw on my first ride-through, convinced me to keep looping around. I will explain shortly.
The above STOP sign struck me, especially when viewed without any street around. A STOP sign in the middle of a woods or pasture. I guess one could conjure up all sorts of meaning to a STOP sign against the above background.
Somewhere along the ride, I thought of the strand of bad mood that seemed to be running through me. Interestingly, viewing it as just that, a strand or a vein much like a vein of a certain type of mineral in a rock, lifted my mood. There was a clarity where I viewed being in a bad mood with enjoying being on the bike as able to co-exist. Just as we have a vast array of nerves and DNA strands that comprise our whole, we just as easily can have numerous emotional strands running through us at the same time. Sometimes, one strand seems to overshadow the others and it may seem as if that is all we are made of. By viewing the bad mood as just a thin strand among other threads that ran through me, I was able to let it exist without prevailing.
So. On a first passing, I saw this furry lump on the back of a donkey in the pasture. Getting closer, I saw that it was, indeed, a cat and not my eyes playing tricks on me (or me playing tricks on you!). I stopped to take a picture but the cat jumped down to come and say hello to me. My hope was that if I circled back a bit later, the cat would be back on the donkey. Sure enough, several miles later, there was the donkey at the far end of the pasture with a cat sleeping on its back. And, not too far away was the other donkey with another cat on its back. I took some shots but I planned on returning one more time in the hope that they would move closer to the road. On that last approach, I saw that the donkey was much closer, yet far enough way so that when I dismounted and took out the camera, the cat, make it cats now, were still sleeping. I took several pictures and the donkey slowly sauntered closer allowing me to get better and better shots. Eventually, he wondered close enough that the cats jumped down to say hello to me, as did the two donkeys and goats.
The remainder of the ride saw the sky fill in with clouds and the wind really kick up. At one point, I was riding south directly into the wind that was at least 25mph and seemed to be gusting to 30. I was clocking a whopping 7mph on the flats, getting slowed to 6mph at times. But the rain held up and didn't start till later in the day.
Animals petted on this ride: Two dogs, two cats, two donkeys. Two dogs kept their distance.
Today's Ride: 2hrs 46mins. 30.27 miles. 51°-58° 20-25mph, gusting to 30. Miles YTD: 9,645.51
Number of miles per day needed to reach 10,000 miles by the end of the year: 12.66
Donations for Biking for Food, which support the Community Meals at St Paul’s Episcopal Church in Fayetteville, AR, can be sent to: Biking for Food, St Paul’s Episcopal Church, 224 N. East Ave., Fayetteville, AR 72701
Or, make a pledge per bike miles ridden at www.stpaulsfay.org/bikingforfood.html.
To see older postings, search the Archives listed on the right had panel.
To see postings before 30 November 2011, please go to www.mylifeasabike3.blogspot.com
To see postings before 15 August 2011, please go to www.mylifeasabike2.blogspot.com
To see postings before 11 June 2011, please go to www.mylifeasabike.blogspot.com
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