End of the month cop-out part two.

As I declared in this post, I’ve decided to take the final Friday of every month, and post the pre-edited content from my feature in PAVED Magazine’s, ‘Axis Of Stevil’. As I said last time, I do sincerely hope you enjoy it. If you don’t, there’s a ton of other internet just a click away.
aos2
Photo by Brian Vernor

Spring 2011
Sometime between issue number one and issue number two, I was saddled with the task of writing my wedding vows. I wasn’t having any luck with a pen and the ever growing pile of crumpled note paper on my living room floor, so I opted to try my luck with the never failing inspiration of a bike ride. As the miles ticked off and my mind began freeing itself up, the words that most concisely conveyed my love for my future wife began falling like water. “Is this all it took?” I asked myself. All I needed to do to unleash my inner romantic was to point my bike away and stick my proverbial foot in it? As it turns out, it was indeed.

Fence posts and trees whizzed by, all becoming an indistinguishable blur in my periphery. My lungs and legs burned as I climbed ascent after ascent. My ears and nose were filled with the sounds and smells of a hundred miles of seemingly forgotten road. As I collected the assortment of thoughts about my almost-wife, I recounted all of the noteworthy experiences I’ve had while hunched over and spinning wildly to nowhere. Broken hearts have been mended, hangovers have been quelled, rage has been subdued, and fear has been conquered. I wrote the speech honoring my father for his surprise 70th birthday party while on a bike ride, and I like to think I will do the same for his 80th.

My bike is an indefinable container for emotion. It’s a time machine, a security blanket, and much like a child’s empty box, open to whatever I need it to be.

As I walked back in the door and removed my helmet, I placed my water bottles on the counter and emptied my jersey pockets. My head was swimming with various passages and phrases. In my mind’s eye, I could see my mom crying at all of the beautiful things that were about to come flooding onto paper. I hadn’t even yet taken off my gloves before I grabbed a pen and my yellow legal pad on which I would write my masterpiece.

And not that it’s all that uncommon an occurrence, but just then my mind went blank.

Only small fragments of what had come before were left. I attempted to patch them back together, but only bits and pieces ended up sounding quite right. I wrote a series of passages, placed the cap back on the pen, and laid the pad back on the floor.

No matter”, I thought, finally taking off my gloves. “I still have tomorrow’s ride to sort this out. Or the one after that. Or the one after that.

And just as I expected, I did… And I did.
newlittleskull

Spread this like it's sick

Leave a Reply to scooper Click here to cancel reply.

4 Responses to “End of the month cop-out part two.”

  1. rb October 31, 2014 at 6:42 am #

    I often wonder if my outloud ramblings would make any sense in a post-ride debriefing. They sure make sense while the pedals are turning, but seem to dissipate as the revolutions slow and the cleats unclip. I think there is a thought vortex created by the vertical movement of legs pumping as it’s converted into reciprocal and forward momentum. Maybe this is the trick that physics can’t explain that keeps a wheel rolling when by all means it should fall over: defying physics can lead to other dimensions, even if they’re contained within this physical plane.

    Thanks for posting these articles. It’s only a cop-out if you’re not out doing something more rad than the words you would have put on this page instead.

  2. blacksocks October 31, 2014 at 4:26 pm #

    Everything I ever want to say comes out on the bike. For better or worse, I only spend like 1% of my time riding. So I guess that explains why I often feel like an iceberg…

  3. Largo October 31, 2014 at 8:12 pm #

    Your cop outs are stronger than everyone else’s.

  4. scooper November 1, 2014 at 8:38 am #

    I totes agree. There is no magic that happens better than that of a bike ride. It’s the only true happiness I know how to do. I would wish that for all of ya’ll. Ride on!