Musings from the Saddle on a Warm Spring Night

The girls and I had a great time on our bikes last night! We rode along the Columbia River and Vancouver Lake, on one of the first warm, sunny evenings of the year.

The route is really nice-- a (mostly) paved trail that runs along the lake, at times in the shade and mostly in the sun. It rolls along small rivers and creeks and eventually along the mighty Columbia River. Mounts Hood, St. Helens and even Adams were all clearly in view on this perfect evening. Where else can you stand in one spot and see three volcanic peaks, a richly historic river, and an inviting blue lake (and get home in 20 minutes?)

We rode past fields of crops packed with geese, stretching their wings in the warm setting sun. Red-winged blackbirds sang and flitted through acres of wild blackberry bushes. We took a break on the sandy beach, and watched a massive tanker slowly trudging upriver. We laughed and ate gummy bears and those chewy coke-bottle things, while a couple of kids rode out of control, dragging their shoes on the ground to stop just short of crashing into the sand and rocks.



My view most of the ride

The path has markings every quarter-mile, and we started racing each other, alternating quarter-mile sprints with quarter mile rests. At first, I dusted them both. After the fourth or fifth sprint, I had no chance of winning. It was a blast, and a nice little workout. And of course it got me pondering life and... stuff. Following are some musings I had while in the saddle. Well, mostly while in the saddle-- some of these thoughts came a bit later.

The ride home goes right past a Frito-Lay factory. There is approximately a half-mile radius of motivation-killing, fitness-fighting, crave-inducing hypnotic potato chip aroma. In the twenty-four hours since my ride, I have consumed about a pound and a half of Cheddar Jalapeno Crunchy Cheetos. I blame this bike ride for my binge-- it was partly my calorie deficit, and partly the hypnotic snack stank. But still, I blame the bike ride.

I should have worn bike shorts. Even though it was just an hour or so in the saddle, that hour took its toll. I repeat... I should have worn bike shorts-- this is not the burn I had hoped to feel.

Annelise and Corrinne have gotten really good at bike-handling, and they ride fast. This made it so much more fun to ride together-- hanging in a group, and pushing each other when we needed it. When they were littler I nicknamed them 'Speedy' and 'Hammer.' It's fun to see them riding like this!

The Boy Scouts were right about their motto, 'Be prepared.' It took me about three hours to get the bikes tuned up, to get extra tubes, to get the rack on the van, etc. I'm glad I did, as I caught a slowly leaking tube and some brakes that needed a tweak or two. Had we just thrown the bikes in the back of the van and rode as is, we'd have had at least one flat, and no spare tube. In my experience, manic over-preparing pretty much ensures nothing bad will happen with the bikes. And even if it does, well, we're ready for it.

A little rest break

I gotta lose some weight. I mean, really, I gotta lose some weight. We have set our sights on climbing Mt. St. Helens this summer, and I do not want to be holding anyone back for that. I have anointed Annelise and Corrinne my fitness and diet coaches, instructing them to pester and push me into getting healthier. We'll see how this goes... Annie especially loves dealing out the tough love. I worry her 'coaching' may drive me to even more drastic stress-eating.

What a resplendent world we live in. Every place I've lived in--and that's a long list-- just has so much beauty and awesomeness and richness to enjoy and explore. What a blessing to be in such a particularly amazing part of the country!

I'm proud of how well Annelise and Corrinne rode-- I couldn't ask for better riding partners. And I'm looking forward to longer rides and some tough hikes with the family this spring and summer. Mt. St. Helens, we're coming for you!