The Ride

Tuesday was my day off. I decided I'd go for a ride on the Silver Comet Trail - it's a former railroad track that has been paved. Ultimately, it will go all the way to Alabama. It's very well maintained and goes through some beautiful parts of Georgia.

Tuesday started cloudy when I left about 8:45 from the trail beginning in Smyrna. It started to clear a little about 20 miles in. I was feeling good, there was no traffic, and the scenery was much different since the leaves are off the trees. It wasn't until I went through this long, high tunnel that I realized I had never ridden out so far on the trail. I decided to keep riding. I got hungry around 35 miles and saw a sign indicating that Rockmart, GA was about 5 miles ahead. I figured I could stop there to get something to eat. I only had two water bottles and a couple of packets of 'Gu'.

I got to Rockmart and pretty much rode through it - it was smaller than I thought. I kept thinking I'd see a trailside store of some sort. I got to the other side of the town and pulled over to a park bench. I'd been on the bike for almost 2 1/2 hours. I originally only intended to ride that long!

I turned around, went off the trail and found a gas station. It was then that I realized i only had two bucks on me. I bought a huge candy bar and a pack of crackers, filled my bottles and headed back. Up to that point I had really been ejoying the ride - nice weather, lots of streams, ponds, wildlife that I wouldn't usually see.

People often ask me how I took so much time off the bike after racing seriously for a few years. It was easy....because I didn't LIKE riding bikes. I liked RACING bikes. Sure, I grew up pretty much attached to my bike, but it was a means to get from here to there and a source of fun as I jumped it off walls and tore through the woods. Riding a bike for the hell of it as an adult didn't offer a lot. I'm finally learning to enjoy it again.

So, I'm about 35 miles from my car, not exactly happy with my meal and I've seen all the shit since I just rode the same stretch of trail. The ride stops being fun. I trudge on for another hour and start to feel the effects of over 60 miles in the saddle. My knee is hurting a bit, my butt is not so comfortable and I'm craving something good to eat. The last 20 miles sucked. I got to my car, threw my bike on the roof and headed straight for the border - Taco Bell.

I wish I could bottle the feeling I had for the first two hours of that ride. Unfortunately, the ending is what I keep remembering....