The
warm bead of sweat slithers down my spine in its straight cooling flow. There’s
not a single nerve of protest between my shoulder blades as my skin finds
comfort in this welcomed moisture. The steady rush of air streams past my ears
in a gentle melody of movement. My calves bulge into tight balls beneath the
knee and for the first time in my life I understand why thighs are called quads
while all four defined muscles relax and contract in opposition of each other
between the forward and rear push of my peddle strokes. It’s already 8:30 at
night and I’ve done 155km today but my heart pounds on in a steady rhythm
content of pushing on, it knows better than I. Hill after hill
are conquered with nothing more than a simple downshift as if it were flat
ground, they present no challenge anymore. I haven’t felt the shrill pain of
pins and needles in my hands for days now, my ass is finally molded to my seat,
a tough leathery skin welcomes the post for the 10th hour today. A smile
grows upon my face in which I can’t control, this is it, two months and 3500km
later I finally love the feeling of keeping pace into the late hours of the
night. Nothing inside of me tells me to stop, I dread the moment the tyres
seize to make their gentle whooshing whisper when my ride comes to an end that
day. I want it and I like it, clear mind, fresh air, enjoyment, simple and
pure. I’m no longer enduring these longs days but enjoying them, it took a
while to find it but now that I have it I welcome it and all I can think about
is waking up and getting back on the saddle. Like the 40th kilometer
marker in a marathon, similar to the weightlessness of a 20kg pack 1 month into
a hike or the millionth paddle stroke in a kayak, the mind is conquered and the
body flaunts what it’s been holding back all this time. My mind is free and my breath is steady, my legs push on without me needing to tell them so, it took a
while but this is it.
This.. is… Cycle ZEN.
I’m out
of the prairies now, I’m out of the USA in which I have no plans to return on
this journey, I’m into the isolated forests of Canada’s largest province and I
love it. All the hard work throbbing up the mountains in B.C, the endless hours
of scorching hot days across Alberta, the thousands of mosquito bites and freak
hail storms summoned from Saskatchewan, and the merciless soul wrenching headwinds
of Manitoba have all paid off as I find myself pushing out 150km to 200km a day
and still finding time to go for naked swims, smelling the roses, and capturing
the memories on my camera. I don’t get the
hunger cravings that used to haunt my stomach. My skin is golden brown as its
developed a natural deterrence against the sun. I’m fit, happy, and flying down
the sealed roads edging my way closer to the Atlantic Ocean. I’ve summited the
last hill dividing the water shed from the Arctic to the Atlantic, I’m still a
long way but rivers are my friends now as we share a mutual destination. I
passed yet my 4th time zone entering into Eastern Time, not quite Atlantic
yet but I’ll envy anything providing the word east.
Two more
weeks of crossing the mogul landscapes of northern Ontario as I circumnavigate
the largest lake in the world and wind my way to Toronto where friends and
family await my arrival. I feel like the hard yards are behind me as I have an incredibly
scenic two weeks ahead of me before reaching so many friends I’ve been anticipating
to see for so long. One leg at a time is the approach to conquering a journey
like this and the only bit that remains unfamiliar is the next two weeks before
reaching Toronto. From there those lands are mapped into my mind with small
distances between friends and family all the way to Halifax N.S. A massive endeavor
in itself but I’ve come far enough to let my fantasies and dreams run free as hope
of reaching home replaces stubborn determination. Pain and determination come
from being tough, hope comes from the heart and unlike determination, there is
nothing in which can break hope.
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