(Day 23)
We rode 90 miles yesterday from Lindon to Duchesne (pronounced Du-shane. Duchesne not Deschesnes, Timothy was wrong). It was our first ride after a four-day rest and within five minutes of setting out we viscerally felt the inertia (wise Katherine’s term) of our accustomed stationary state – Parth’s handlebars had somehow loosened and hung at an unnatural angle from its stem, and while they and Timothy attempted to figure out the situation, Aja and I sat down in the grass as if miming our last few days in the treehouse.
sunset with Timothy, Parth, and Aja, photo courtesty of Timothy
We seemed to have grown our own roots for this little town in Utah. In one of our group check-in’s about the things we miss most, Timothy brought up missing the state of settling in. With our daily migrations (sometimes of 6 miles and other times of 106), we have lost that place we can return to. Perhaps because of boarding school, I have grown used to not quite having a place to call home, but I have always had that place where I know the nooks and crannies, and where I know I am welcomed. So when we finally began to know the lovely place in Lindon, know the tree branch that I whacked my head on more than once, know the (mildly terrifying) selection of dolls in the bedroom, know the dog Toffee and the cat Gemma, know the freezer aisle of the Asian market (maybe a little too well)...it was hard for us to start not knowing again.
biking time with Joel
I wished that I could weave in a (relatively) science-y metaphor, about how our great potential energy converted into great kinetic energy and we all felt amazing and biked the speediest of our lives, but we did not, so I guess I will return to the Classics. Honestly, it felt like a (even more) twisted version of the myth of Sisyphus, with every boulder we rolled uphill, an even greater one would be waiting for us at the bottom. The first leg it was Parth’s bike. Ody dislocated their jaw on the second. Joel’s tires were especially attracted to the loose gravel on the third leg. So by the time we got onto the fifth leg, the sun was about to set and a thunderstorm loomed in the (very near) distance.
fixing Joel’s bike, photo courtesy of Parth
Yet with all the rolling down of the boulders, like Sisyphus, we never stopped pushing, literally, up so many hills…And although the boulders grew in size, we always met a kind soul to help us along and alleviate just a little of the crushing weight. Parth was able to find a bike shop right away, and Katherine picked them up like the resident-guardian-angel she is. Sebastian at the mechanics, Joel’s dad, and Joel worked from varying geographical distances to rehabilitate Ody. Robert, who worked in the construction zone on Highway 40 “did not want it on [his] conscience to see [us] crushed by oil trucks on the way up” and very kindly offered us a piggy-back ride on his truck as well as ice-cold water fresh from a cooler. I wonder if Sisyphus had made a few such friends in Tartarus he would find his eternal torture a bit more bearable (...probably not).
Robert’s truck
Riding with our backs to the sunset for the last leg, the sky was the richest deep blue I have ever seen it. Along the rumble strips filled with rainwater, each dimple held a pocket of that oceanic expanse. As we stopped under a double (triple?) rainbow with a golden sunset to our back and all hues of purples and pinks and blues in front, I felt like I had perhaps found the feeling, if not the place, that I can always return to.
rainbow!
the prettiest sky that my iphone cannot do justice
(Day 24)
I think everything went downhill today when I put on white sunscreen instead of green. Which was at 7:30 AM this morning…It is 11:48PM right now and this blog is still incomplete so today is going to be a little look into my brain of sorts:
Biking. Biking. Podcast. Food. Not biking. Groceries with Katherine. Food. More food. Biking. Sad biking. Angry biking. Introspective moment when I thought about how moody and mean I was being. Apologize to Parth about being moody and mean. Think about apologizing to Joel for being moody and mean but end up not apologizing (Sorry Joel). More angry biking. Arrival.
Joel sitting on wood chips with ramen
I will let you all in on my self reflections more the next time I write, but this is the basic rundown of the biking part of my day. Upon arrival we were greeted by the warmest host, April, who made us delicious spaghetti, green beans, cucumbers, and air-fried garlic bread! We all took a (much needed) shower after yesterday’s sink-showers and wood chips-filled bed (ground). Timothy and I walked around the neighborhood to a little trail that April pointed us towards and we enjoyed another spectacular Utah sunset with their dog Ray. Seeing the gold and purple and pink and blue, I returned to that feeling I had found the day before, and I felt at peace, even a little at home.
In other Spokes news, Ody in addition to a dislocated jaw suffered a chipped tooth today, but thankfully other than a new gap toothed grin, they are (relatively) whole and well (thank you Cameron for checking Ody out!).
sunset!
See you soon,
Sophia