It's TIME: Pt. Reyes ~ Ride Report

A ride mapped on 03/21/2013 using a Garmin Forerunner 110

Sometimes when you do something so EPIC, you have to take a step back and see how that jewel fits into the crown of your existence.  This ride was certainly tops in LIFE so I have to express a bit of it here in my biking blog for posterity, of course.

A HUGE thanks to my dear aunt Anne for organizing and facilitating this transformative weekend. We took 1,066.27 ft of climbing in strong winds along Sir Francis Drake Blvd all the way until the end of the pavement.

Basking in the sun at the turnaround like a sea lion.  We saw so many different flowers and wildlife, including a coyote.  Also ran into an experiment station at the end of this tree-lined driveway.  It was a great pleasure to take an 11 mile recovery ride the following day out of that wind.  When a friend told me to bring a windbreaker, I'm glad I listened.  Also totally loving these gloves I found at a gas station in either KS or NE over our epic Christmas vacation.  Missing family right now, lots going on with cousins and sisters.  It's the dawning of the Age of Aquarius or something, like big things are happening for all of us.  Claiming the area like early explorers must have done felt really inspiring.   I always loved our in-house library with maps and photographs of ancient artifacts and cultures.  I wonder what will survive this modern digital age for the future generations.  Will this carbon fiber bike still be an artifact after 10,000 years or will it be broken down again to atoms and converted to another substance in this universe?

Things I learned from this ride:  hills kills.  Beware of cows.  Bring lots of CLIF.  Don't be afraid to lay in a grassy meadow.  Explore meandering pathways.  Sing in unison.  Sometimes all you need are two peas in a pod.  The experience of the Spirit Rock Meditation Center was incredibly authentic.  The powerful women we stared into each others eyes and shared deeply.  It was scary and uplifting.  Hiking the hills of Mount Tamalpais overlooking Stinson Beach was a moment in time that is completely priceless.  When I think back to the expansive views, I become speechless and calm from the inside out.  When you see yourself in that scale, the worries fade to grass and the peaks which seemed large are now just a part of the landscape.