The Father’s Day ride is for families and dads
and sometimes the mothers can even be glad
to see sons and hubby going one way to Bayswater,
with mama gearing up on the sweet bike he bought her
and riding the long route in the other direction
sneaking a fast ride without detection….
even though Mother’s Day was weeks ago
as long as Dad’s happy, I might as well go…
I began the ride with the best of intentions
of spreading the mantra of “share the road” penchant,
especially practising kindness to myself
not easy for a former racer now ‘on the shelf’.
Pedaling without pushing, keeping so joyful,
I was feeling fine, yes, even powerful!
As fast as I wanted without any discomfort,
I was “riding my ride” with the ball ‘in my court’.
The sun was shining after weeks of bad weather.
The wind was refreshing, it just couldn’t be better…
And then I was passed…
Whiz …“Hi Cathy!”
Whiz ….“Hi Cathy!”
Whiz…. “Hi Cathy!”
I hopped on the Tim Train, settling into the peloton
sheltered from wind, feeling happily in ‘the zone’.
“I love this place!” I remembered, indeed,
the camaraderie, focus, the exhilaration of speed.
We rode on like this for many happy miles,
with Tim at the lead, us behind him, all smiles.
Turning left at East River, braking harder than the others
in a 90 degree turn – I lagged behind my brothers,
when a car came up quickly out of nowhere seemingly
and there I was in its way, startled, alarmingly,
by the speed and ferocity of the car engine’s roar.
Then the driver turned right, just as fast as before.
I bailed to the roadside, hanging on for dear life,
mouthing “sorry” to a man whose demeanor seemed rife
with anger at me for being alive
and riding my bike giving life a high five.
Worse than that, there were witnesses to my bad driving,
moms and babes saying ‘tsk tsk’ to my treacherous arriving.
My brain said: “You get off that Tim Train right now!” and
to the wisdom of my inner voice, I bowed a deep bow.
I was back to the bliss of riding my ride
in the lovely spring sun
having just saved my hide.
I tell you all this as a tale of precaution
for letting your ego start moshin’ and joshin’
and making up stories that you’re fit as before.
Take it easy, my friends, when you’re out there on tour.
We’re sharing our roadways, looking left, looking right,
not getting ‘road rages’, keepin’ it light,
paying attention to all the road users:
the tall ones, the short ones, the racers, the cruisers,
the young and the old, the weak and the strong,
the happy, the angry, the right ones, the wrong:
to all of us, everywhere: “let’s get along!”
Thank you to RECAP, Chester Rec and Freewheeling
for having the dads come together and feeling
the joys of sharing time out with friends.
When you’re riding a bike, the fun never ends……
Catherine Guest
July 2013
Cathy's Yoga Blog 