Couse de Creek

Saturday was a fine day for a ride, except for the blustery headwind. I successfully tucked into the pack in the ride south into the wind. All was well until we hit the hills up Couse Creek, at which time Leslie and I popped out of the shelter of the pack and into the wind. The rolling climb is about four miles, and there were tumbleweeds bouncing along in the roadway from the east. I think that they were caught in a vortex with the cliff-face, as there are NO tumbleweeds which grow to the east side of this road.

On the way down we were flying in small groups. A tumbleweed popped in front of me; I stopped pedaling for a second, but knew there was no way to swerve, so I just plowed on through it. Part of it was thrown into Tim's front wheel behind me, although I didn't know it of course.

When he took his pull in front, he tossed a small tumbleweed branch over his shoulder at me. After the hill leveled out, we grinned and chatted about it.

This reminded me of the kind of relationship that we have with our "biker buddies." At the funeral meal for family and friend’s after Ann’s memorial service, the husband of one of Ann’s co-teachers came up to me. He explained that he was a mountain climber, and he had listened to my eulogy. He said that the relationship that one has with companions in sports such as climbing or biking is a degree of trust and intimacy that you have with no one else, not even members of your own family. This results in the close relationships that are formed with trusted companions, such as friends with whom you have ridden with and suffered through many adventures. You have to trust that person riding in front of you to warn you of hazards, to ride in a predictable way, in a way that you trust no one else. I am privileged to have such good friends in cycling. That's one of the reasons that I bike.