cycles: tyrone mill bakery ride (iii)

journey's home are sometimes bittersweet.

returning over familiar territory - in reverse - seeing scenes that are both familiar and unfamiliar.

always with the background knowledge that at some point, you'll be back home.

that doesn't have to be a bad thing of course, but the journey is - well an immersion into experiences as diverse as newness, innocence, escapism, ineffable goodness - and so the return is . . . well bittersweet.

fueled up with honey, coffees, pastries and of course some really spicy cheese curds we headed up the very short very steep hill that leads northeast away from the tyrone mill.

big skies chased us. we were able to watch clouds parallel to our journey move across the landscape, rain a little and continue on their journey.

they rolled along like the great soft beasts they are!

while we rolled along in quiet appreciation through the ganaraska forest.

here's local bike czar clifford on the glory glide.

a dangerous practice for a cyclist - looking skywards at speed while holding a camera.

but worth the risk.

then onwards through the land of long rolling hills.

where laughing egos were toyed with on climbs ill-suited to those of us who are flat land speed demons!

egos easily and smirkingly crushed by those with the stamina and will to drop them (me included)

as they race on up the hill at the same speed i just descended at.

the post after this one will tell you about a moment. a decision that was made by a little group of cyclists. take the easy way and see what we've seen in reverse. or take the hard way and see something truly beautiful. something i'll not forget. please check it out when it arrives here. for now though, one of my fave moments on a ride.

so like the gurdjieff stop exercise. stop. examine the moment. examine your presence in its entirety.

begin. onwards past windswept early autumn fields.

i've noticed that on longer rides, my eyes start to focus on the details of the ride. the vistas, the little clusterings of plants, the moments. it's almost as if the experience becomes more refined.

maybe there's another word or explanation for it.