i don't usually push my bike
for speed - too lazy - work ya know
but yesterday i was headed into town
riding the Tripel -
there is a flat stretch along the river
about a mile & three quarters long just before
you enter town - the moment happened just then
everybody knows that moment
we all get them
a moment of grace
when everything & yourself falls into place
you can hear the click as everything locks on
it's not enlightenment
it's the groove - it can't be found
it just comes
wind out of the south at my back
as i gained the flat along the river
i could feel it happening
i said thank you very much to the universe
the air was filled with falling leaves
some of them spinning floating down
others dropping straight to the earth like bombs
i pushed against the pedals
faster with each revolution
until the cadence got smooth with flow
the spokes on those 700c rims began to sing
when they get going like that they make this sound
all i can think of to describe it
is to imagine a hundred samurai swords
making the exact same slice thru the air
at the exact same angle
at the exact same time
the leaves on the asphalt making a thousand variations
of that dry crunch sound as they passed under my wheels
giving out whispered imaginings of things i don't know
i could feel them more than hear all this
because the music i have linked to below
was playing on a borrowed ipod
feeding thru the earbuds into my brain
into my blood
sucked into my heart and pushed out from there
into every atom of muscle & tissue
music that was my ally - lifting my spirit up shamanized
purified only to the moment at hand
truth is 30 mph on a bike is greater
than 250 mph in a ferrari because in that car
you are insulated - cut off from 90% of everything
on a bike you are
out there smack
in it
you
hear all of it
you
feel all of it
you
smell all of it
alive with all of it
feel the steel frame of the bike flexing beneath you
a hundred times a second in intimate contact
with the surface of the road & you busy making your own wind
63 damn years old & I was flyin' as i approached
the first intersection in town
a busy one too
me coming in on the main north-south artery
the light was red but i didn't want to touch that sweet velocity
my body didn't want to slow the roll
if i didn't have to
and some moments yet to decide
so i kept coming at a notch or two above flank speed
the Tripel is a quick responding bike - not twitchy but sure
and she's evil - full of temptation - bit of a mischeif slut
here i am blamin' the machine
yeah it's bullshit
the truth being i just had to have her with her track bike frame
her clean uncluttered minimalist lines
her red rim wheels & all
and now with the intersection coming up
she had me in her hot loving irresistable grip
i was past the point of no return when the light went green
i laughed FUCK! ME! YES!
and entered the intersection at righteous speed
nothing for it now everything is behind me carry on lad
for better or worse
you either trust the flow when you're on it
you live out it's creed or stay the fuck home & yes it can get you
into some damn stupid shit -
driver in a pickup truck in the opposite left hand turn lane
decides he's not waiting for oncoming traffic
whips out into the intersection
nothing anyone can do now
people shouting Look Out! Look Out!
but i was on the flow
i was in the groove
i wasn't looking out - no time for that
i was looking ahead at evolving facts
that said if i kept faith with my speed
i would have almost two inches to spare
when that truck and me crossed paths
nothing mystical about it
i could
see it -
and it's how it happened out behind me
nobody hurt
nobody leaving the scene guilty of crime or foolishness
everybody on a high from having their excitement buttons pushed
rushes of adrenalin all around -
i let the velocity drop away goin' down 1st Street
i rode out of the flow
let the groove go its way
let the jam relax
pulled into the parking lot of the coffee shop
leaned the bike against the wall
stepped back - found myself in a moment's agreement
with MC Hammer where he said -
you can't touch this - realizing for the first time
that he said that not out of vanity
or either out of pride
but said it because it was true -
went inside ordered a dark roast
three sugars
double cream
took a long easy loop
to home
down the west side of the river
crossing back over the river
at a bridge about midway
no rush to anything
________________________________________________
like Wireman says
jam on us -
forget craft
leave inspiration in the dust
rise up & lay it down
nail it to the tree
carve it deep
breathe
have all the fun you can -
Jam !
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmzrD4sB1I0
