Tonight, riding home on the single speed, rather than sticking to the roads we took a few dirt trails: the Lore Road, Moose Track & Salmon Run trails. As I was pedaling behind Jon on Moose Track, just taking it easy, I found a rhythm, turning over the cranks as the trail rolled gently under my tires. For a few moments I entered that zone where I stopped thinking and just let the bike follow the trail through the greening woods.
Then I realized how easy it would be to allow such a mellow mood to overtake someone on a long singlespeed ride on familiar trails. I thought of our friend who races endurance events on his ss and understood so much more clearly how easy it can be for him to fall asleep on the bike and wake up on the ground with people staring at him.
These days things are so busy - work, home, volunteering, riding with friends - I have a hard time committing to it all. If a ride home through the woods can give me a bit of relaxation, well, that's just a bonus of commuting. But now that the bears are out and about, I probably shouldn't get quite so relaxed that I fall asleep.
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