A Bit Spooky…

I remember many (many) years ago, when I was still in high school, a couple of friends and I set out on a bike ride around a lake near my home. I’ve done the ride since, and I’d say it’s a bit over 30 miles.

The unique thing about our ride is that we started at about 11:30 PM and got home around 3 AM (we actually stopped at a friend’s house on the other side of the lake). It was quite the adventure for a few high schoolers — something actually quite interesting.

Of course I never would have dreamed that rides in the deep of night on the other side of the planet would have been my thing 40-some years later. But here I am, getting out in the dark again. This morning, I started at 4:19 and went random. Wind out of the east, so that was the way to start.

I used to be a little more fearless on my early-morning rides, until I hit a steel plate that flattened both of my tires (and one of Chris’s, who was right behind me). Now I realize that things tend to jump up and bite you in the dark. I also didn’t used to mind the dark so much, but I’ve noticed on the two BCFBs I’ve done this year, crossing low and old bridges over rivers has spooked me a bit. I’ve always been a little nervous around water, so you can only imagine what I feel like with the dark, swirling kind just a few feet below me. Especially with the low rails on the bridges I was crossing. Something inside me gets to pushing me on, although I always force myself to stop, because pictures from those bridges are usually quite nice. I’ve posted a few here in the past.

But still, a little water and a little darkness isn’t going to keep me from these rides to these places. Being out on the quiet morning road is just so therapeutic and beautiful, and these rides give me such a sense of uniqueness, knowing that I’m one of the few people who gets to really enjoy something on which so many others miss out. Maybe some people think it’s crazy to get up at 4 and do things like this, but in truth, I can think of few things better.