Hello Crew,
I had some bushiness in Corbin today, so I left Somerset early enough to take the scenic drive out highway 192 to Laural River Dam and in to Corbin. It has been a confusing time for me recently. Every chance I get to slow down and immerse myself in nature can only be good.
Driving across the Daniel Boone National Forest, past our spring series race course, I noticed that the forest is up in it's greenery now... the wild indigenous magnolia are about to bloom and the lands are alive and moving and going the same way they have been for thousands of years.
It is often difficult for me to still my mind enough to know what is right and what is wrong. My Son is 16 and will soon be 17. He and I have been very close his entire life, but these times are confusing to me. And the racing, the bike racing... after 20 years away from a sport I love, I am back now, nearly as strong as I ever was.. looking as far upward as I ever did - believing I can do anything with the right training, the right support and the right frame of mind. The process, racing as often as I can - training until I drop, resting until I can rest no more - all neatly blanketed in the needs of my Son... I know I am a intelligent person, but I am overwhelmed easily - constantly asking myself if I am on the right path, and never knowing for sure.
The greenery - the wildflowers - the blooming wild magnolia... the natural process I saw on my way to Corbin couldn't give a flip about my own processes... The woods are busy now. I am busy now. I am busy for a few weeks or months..... the woods have been going for thousands of years. Every year it is the same for them... I seek that quiet, calm and steady process. The cycles of nature are the finger print of God - a proof...
So that when I plunged down to the Rockcastle River on my drive to Corbin, and I crossed the bridge over the Rockcastle River, I saw a large bird sitting on the apex of a large rock... it was a Bald Eagle. I instantly stopped on the bridge, got out of the car and looked close... it was, in fact an eagle. Bothered by my presents, it took flight and went on about it's own process.
I went on about my own process - a little more confident... Everything is going somewhere. Everything is doing it's job, including me.
I love the woods and nature. I love my Son most of all. I love to ride and race bicycles. I love our cycling community... whether you ride mountain bikes - or race road bikes or come out and ride as best you can - there is a deeply spiritual thing in cycling for me; racing or not. I identify with other cyclists - no matter what their aims are. I can't really explain it. So I will not even try.
My first passion is racing - beyond that - my cycling friends.... beyond that - being outside in the trees and fields and flowers - and frankly, being with God.
God knows, with all this blond hair of mine, I need all the help I can get.
We will all be racing soon... Our Crew Mate Jack Evans is down in Central Tennessee by himself tonight preparing for a very difficult stage race over the weekend.
Racing - riding - training - managing our shop - This is our community. Our community is about to send two of it's members to national championships ; but that end of the spectrum is no more significant than club rides at Barnsburg... we are all doing something to better ourselves. We are all in our on process.... and none are more important than the other.
Let's all ride! It seems like the sane thing to do.
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