Long rides are the stuff of dreams.
On long rides we have time to think. We can actually spend enough time in our heads to complete some long and fairly complex thoughts.
As more of the distractions fall away, and the rhythm of the ride establishes itself, we have time to look around us and see. It’s a pretty amazing world. There are signs and wonders, both near and far. How nice to have the time to really see them and appreciate the experience.
There is camaraderie. We spend more time with the folks we are riding with, particularly if we are pledged to stay with each other. We get to know one another in ways that we don’t have time for in the day to day. We share the work. We encourage each other. We discover a truth. Joy shared is joy augmented, pain shared is pain diminished.
Along about the fourth or fifth hour out an interesting thing occurs. The endorphins kick in. Pain and fatigue recede and become merely data. We are able to appreciate these sensations for what they are, messages. We realize that we can ride through them with no great risk. In fact, it gets to be a lot of fun. The light gets better, the bike gets lighter, the road rises up to meet us. Life is good.
And the food tastes fantastic.
Long live lon rides!
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