Dawn of new era?

This is a first for me, at least here in the US. I was pedaling up Painted Cave Road today, zen-focusing on the sweat I could almost see evaporating off my skin. A red jeep went by, two men and a yellow lab looking curiously at me. The guy on the passenger seat gave me thumbs up and shouted “I admire you.”

It totally made my day. Even my heartbeat improved, and that part of the climb being mostly an anaerobic exercise, it meant a lot. I want to think this is a start of a new era when car drivers and bike riders will stop stepping on each other’s toes.

I took advantage of the beautiful day and the altitude gained during the indefatigable exercise of the ascent to remind myself that the bike is not (always) an end in itself but also the mean to traveling fast, silently and light, looking at things like no car driver can. I kept pedaling to the end of the paved portion of West Camino Cielo to take a look at the Gap Fire aftermath. Here are some images:

In conclusion

My bike, Aida, followed us on vacation for the next few weeks, and we rode over the cols of the Basque country as well as through the vineyards of Bordeaux. This alone was worth all the trouble in bringing her along. A few thousand more words could be written on what all this meant to me. And maybe one day I will write them.

For now, suffice it to say that riding the Étape was perhaps an impossible dream, a comical failure, an exciting adventure, and above all a great goal that sustained me through quite a difficult time of my life.

I don't regret a single second of it. And I don't think I ever will.