Lookin' around

I had a very enjoyable ride last night. I went to Salem Hills after my evening meeting, and it was a nice way to close out the day. Peaceful, quiet, and pleasantly uneventful.

The trail is in good shape, although there are some trees down here-and-there from the most recent storm. No biggie. On one rather twisty section, there was a larger tree down, and I had to get off the bike and climb through & around the carnage. I needed a break anyway, so I sat and rested a bit. It really was a very beautiful night.

It occurred to me, as I sat there drinking my water and sucking down an energy gel, that I kept primarily looking up at the trail ahead and to the sides of where I was. I hadn't looked back to where I had just come from. So I did. It immediately struck me as being somehow darker than everywhere else - in reality, this was just a coincidence of the trail itself - the previous section was a downhill switchback to where I currently was. I thought to myself, "Man, that would be quite a gnarly challenge to reverse & go back that way."

And that got me thinking - nothing like waxing philosophical out in the pitch-black woods, right? ;) ...The past being darker & difficult, the path ahead being "brighter" and easier to navigate - things along those lines. Then it occurred to me that I was starting to sound like Bob the junkie (Matt Dillon), in that scene from Drugstore Cowboy, describing his aversion to mirrors: "You never look at the backside of a mirror because when you do, it'll affect your future because you're looking at yourself backwards. ...No... You're looking at your inner self and you don't recognize it because you've never seen it before." Haha, yeah, maybe something like that, I guess! Sheesh, ya gotta marvel at the way we addicts' & alkies' minds work sometimes!

So, I laughed at myself, climbed back on my bike, and contentedly finished the lap with a grin on my face.

Happy trails & good dirt!
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Now playing: minor threat - look back and laugh