Covered Bridges

The Covered Bridges Ride is one of my favorites. Yep, we go way back. Back to when I first joined the team 5 years ago. So many memories....

But wait-- let me back up.

Our first Covered Bridges Ride of the season was Saturday. I almost didn't ride. I woke up feeling completely unmotivated. It's not that I was tired or had been training too hard (ummm, it's definitely not that). I just didn't want to go.  Even the lure of mountain scenery, white peacocks, and quaint bridges wasn't enough to entice me. I'm not sure what happened to my motivation mojo; it just wasn't there. Plus, P and Janet wouldn't be riding, so there was no one to hold me accountable. I could just not show up---and no one would care or even notice. I could roll over and go back to sleep!

But then from across the Pacific, I heard a familiar voice say:   "Come on, get off your butt!" No doubt she was sipping Mai Tai's on the beach, listening to the crashing waves, soaking up the ---

Actually, she was probably just heading to bed, but the Drill Sgt.'s message was clear:  get up off the couch and go! I know that's what she'd be doing if she were here. So I went.

Hearing the Drill Sgt.'s voice made me long for the days when the Original Four Muskateers ruled the roads together. And so I headed out on the 30 miler with a serious case of nostalgia.  Afterall, the Covered Bridges Ride marked a milestone in my Team Z "career." It was my first 50 miler. Priscilla and I struggled with the heat, I ran out of water, and it took us well over 4 hours to finish. We were the last Zs back to the parking lot, but Ed and Zoe waited  for us. 

I thought about the time Janet was sagging and brought us Rice Krispy Treats...and the time I was sagging and got my SUV stuck in the mud. (A group of passing Zs rescued me.) That's the hill where I dropped my chain; there's the stop sign where I couldn't unclip in time; this is the spot where Ed helped me with the cue sheet. It's interesting how many memories one can accumulate over the course of 5 years and many miles of shared experience.

                                                                          

Who knows what the next 5 years will bring? Without a working crystal ball I can only guess that many more miles of pavement are ahead of us...and, no doubt, quite a few Mai Tai's with the Drill Sgt. on the beach.