ever wonder

which is faster?

(h/t Lil' e)

Sunday ride.

hey, I'm not attacking,
just trying to hold on.

just trying to hold my
spot in line...

hey, I'm not attacking,
just didn't wanna hold
you guys up thru there.

hey, I'm not attacking....

but the fact is, sometimes I
thoroughly enjoy pedaling
like a crazed Jedi ninja thru
the woods with nose to chin
snot droolping onto stem.

it's a pace which is really
only found within a group.

somebody is always willing
to go fast, just for the sake
of going fast....we all have a
bit of RickyBobby in us, admit it.

A chance to explore that twisted
numb mental state of full body
tingliness...where the only thoughts
involve pedaling and breathing.

and going f.a.s.t.

instinct handles the rest.
rocks, roots, it's all about
hitting the 'bright spots'....

keep it honest, and if you
or when I blow up, pull
over, let that train roll
by, then run the sweep.

tag, I'm it.

regroup on up ahead there.
refuel, enjoy a beer perhaps,
enjoy mother nature, clouds,
sun, ridgetops and conversations
that inevitably explore the
crudeness of cruditude.

A jar of what?

jesus.

And then back into it, fucking
pedaling with abandon back
into that floating smiley face
balloon mode trying to hold
on until you simply can't stand
it. done, fini, cracked, cooked.


good times, felt good
to get out & breath.

is winter coming already?

true cost.

if you had to tear it all down,
tear it all back down
to raw form....

I imagine that process
is about as nasty for
Mother Earth, as it was
to extract & create it all.

what a mess.

SPOOOON!

Dunno whut got into me, a Friday
work interlude inspiration and a

"yeah, why the fuck not?"

attitude had my
mind set in motion.

Ullr is coming, he expects a day
long commitment to truely schralp
those forested white fluffy gifts.

chasing ze trutta has softened me.
that knee thing softened me.

it's all for the better, I needed a
step back from it all, a reboot.

and so, considering that this was
the fish of the day on my last
outing, I'm guessing the trout
have pretty much shut down
their surface feeding for the
year...except on the LeTort,
and I'm not much up for that
chess match..

SO, Friday, eating lunch, I thought
that maybe 'Roxbury to HorseValley
and then home via the 'best' way
considered at the time' loop would
be something fun to do.

Turns out, I was right.

If you consider yourself in any way
a seasoned cyclist, it pays to listen
to your internal 8-Ball instinct.
Don't even ask, you know that
"All signs point to yes"

GO, now. !

"ok."

It always pays to push for a few hours
into a charming headwind and then climb
up one of few storied climbs in the area.
Opens up that direct channel to pedaling
on instinct, counting on that Country
Store that's up at that four way on up
the road from here.

Bounce the helmeted head off the
low hanging Diesel sign and have
a chuckle with the local feller filling
up a rather raw looking drum in the
back of his pick up... mmmmm, locals.
mmmmmmm, Shoefly Pie....the perfect
SouthCentral snack, sitting on a bench
in the late lunchtime sun.

Spin on up 75, then blissful seclusion down
thru rolling rolling HorseValley, This place
takes me back to rural roadie riding during
the VT days....what a hidden gem. Once
you're in, you're in, just pedal to the other
side and soak it all in.

Qwik refuel in East Waterford, new store is
open, so sterile, modern, compared to
before. bummer flashback to the night it
burned, was there the day before while
out pedaling, and then directly after, freaky....

From there it's just a head down, chomp the bits
and pedal 32T whirlwind circles all the way home.
Intercept the perfect sunset timing from down
valley before the Turnpike, chasing it via sketchy
feeling blurred descent of Wagg's...ride it on old
school instinct...these old Campy brakes are 'speed
modulators', not BRAKES!! We're coasting now...

hit the line from memory and just trust that shit
and relish one final ripper down ze mountain.
Snow could be flying soon and it's been a while.
Maybe coulda caught that car and those Harleys,
but only a 32 ring, and sanity prevailed...did close
the gap though, freakin' vest zipper fumbling....

good times, good times indeed.

day long adventures, oh how I've missed thee.

doing this again

will be a lot of fun.

damn it was cold
that day, can't wait.

Baldy Face, Jan oh 10! from Tomi McMillar on Vimeo.

meh.

i could write something
belligerent and ranty.

but I would rather
go to sleep.

the election.

last night pedaling home from voting.
saw an older grandparenty couple,
walking up sidewalk to their quaint
little early suburb brick home. it was
quiet, enjoying a moment of crank
whirring serenity enhanced by that
'I just voted' good vibe. ahhh.

the old couple, she leaning on him
as they also returned home from
our local polling spot. And, oh, look,
a sign in the front yard...

vote for Toomey. ughh.

What a shame, guess they maybe
don't understand the bill of goods
they've been sold.

Quite the hustle.