4.3.2011 Ride: Capturing an Essence

With a busy day lying in wait, my plan was to head out for my ride by 7:00 AM.  Moving slowly when I woke, that grand plan seemed in doubt.  But something motivated me to move.  Maybe the pleasant temperature reading of 65...or the howling wind.  To my pleasant surprise, I was outside by 7:10 and perhaps it was the wind or something about the air that beckoned me.  The atmosphere felt electrified and immediately charged me up.  I thought about how easily four walls and a roof can isolate us from the excitement of the outside world. 

As soon as I turned out of the driveway, I saw a disproportionately HUGE sun through the trees.  I raced to the end of the road to capture what I could of the sunrise, knowing that the size of the sun would be much smaller because of the changing perspective.  Still,  it was quite a sight.  I felt even more energized.

I was looking around, to see if there was something to take a picture of that might capture the wind and magnetism.  The wisp of cirrus clouds, with the aura of the sunrise in the corner, caught my eye and, just as I was taking the picture, a bird soared through.  It's a humble representation of what I was trying to convey.

Rail fence along Hwy 45 in Goshen valley.

Expansive...seemed to be the word of the day.  The world felt open and wide and wanted to show itself in big broad strokes. 
I was riding easily, with the wind slightly at my back but sometimes changing to hit me broadside. And, that early in the morning, the traffic was very light. 

Hwy 45. About 2 miles east of Goshen.

About 4-5 miles east of Goshen, is the remnants of the town of Mayfield.  My google search on any history of the site came up empty, but I did come across an interesting tidbit of a person named Mayfield down in Mena, AR, which is about three hours south. 

Mary Victor (M. V.) Mayfield was a woman who came to Mena in 1918 and practiced medicine in the guise of a man for seven or eight years.  She later claimed that her gender deception began in England—her parents needed a son, not a daughter, to “protect property rights,” so they dressed her as a boy and raised her in disguise. Mayfield carried the masquerade into adulthood by smoking a pipe and drinking a little liquor when it was available. She explained her never needing to shave by a past application of an “old Indian remedy” that made the daily chore unnecessary. Its formula was, of course, kept secret.
Mayfield arrived in Mena in 1918. She lived and conducted a medical practice in rented rooms above the Central Meat Market at 709 Mena Street, passing as a man before friends, patients, and other doctors. However, in 1926, at age seventy-nine, she was found very ill in her quarters. Dr. W. C. Vandiver was called to treat Mayfield. When her condition declined, her caregivers discovered her secret while giving her a bath. (Source: encyclopediaofarkansas.net)

I continued on, planning to turn around at the intersection of Hwy 45 & Hwy 295.  When I got there and stopped to take off a couple of layers, I was struck by the magnificence of everything:  the sign post right next to me, the mundane house across the road, the pastures, whatever.  Many times when I ride and then stop, particularly when it's the "middle of nowhere," the spot seems to take on a kind of reverence.  Out of all the places on Earth, in the solar system, in the Universe, I am right there.  It's a very sacred feeling.

Heading back, the wind was definitely stronger but not as bad as I feared as it was mostly hitting me broadside.  At one point, I had to lean heavily to the left to stay on course and keep from being blown off the road. 
I was thinking about dogs and cameras.  If dogs had invented cameras they surely would have created them so that the main sensory image it recorded was smell.  I wouldn't mind such a camera.  But the camera I would have liked today is one that captures an essence, a presence, the wonder that comes from riding upon the chicken barns in the picture and conveys the sense of awe from viewing such an ordinary sight.  What is happening at that moment with lighting, air, wind to create such a high?  About a mile further down the road, the incredible high I was experiencing the first half of the morning was plateauing. I was left to experience the rest of my ride on a simpler level of joy.

I had passed this sunshade during the very early part of my ride and I made a point of marking landmarks so that I could find it on the way back.  As strong as the wind was, I was surprised it hadn't blown away.  But, the suction cups that it uses to anchor itself to a window, seemed to be entangled in the grass.  It folded up into a compact size and seemed a very fitting piece of litter for today's ride.




Today's Ride:  2hrs. 3mins.  21.48 miles.  65 - 71 degrees.  22mph wind gusting to 30. 
Miles YTD: 1,689.73.