Awoke to a beautiful morning in Fort Collins, CO. Dropped off our bikes nearby the hotel at Lee's Cyclery for tune-ups and minor repairs (new break cable, new bar tape). Very knowledgeable staff we could trust to be sure our teleporting spoke machines could alight us to our final destination.
I arranged and enjoyed a needed massage at the Massage Envy on East Harmony Street. Jade, the therapist, worked her magic on my sore spots and we enjoyed conversing about the cycle trip and her GA roots and her plans to marry her fiancé soon and return south to Auburn, Alabama.
I thought about what love between two human beings can do. We are transformed as a couple who each have personal affection needs, their dreams for living a productive and meaningful life. We want to be loved and we all need to be loved. I believe that extends to all creatures, great and small. The grand design of the universe arranged for it to be so. We heal from injury faster when we know we are loved. We achieve more lofty goals and challenge ourselves evermore when we know there is that special one who is supporting your quests.
And so, at about this midpoint, I thought about this summer's journey, the map drawn, the places chosen; some by chance, others by purposeful design to bring new experiences to enhance the palate of my life and to also revisit and reintroduce prior ones as if tasting a favorite dessert for the very first time.
Fort Collins, CO is flat and relaxed in its pace of life; it contains a vibrant city center about a well-sculpted university campus; it has the comforts of subdivisions housing white-collar workers with happy children enjoying the same trappings as anywhere in successful America - good schools, swim clubs, bicycle-friendly streets, and home entertainment systems to occupy any young child's summer afternoon. It resembles my own comforts and family life in Johns Creek, GA as if parallel universes existed.
It feels good to reflect on one's blessings. It also brings happiness to tell others they are loved dearly for who they are or how important they have been to your life story.
The afternoon hour passed, a walk in a park surrounded by young children at play reminded me of the purity of young love, of adventure, of taking chances, of not holding back from challenges, of sharing happy moments, and of laughter.
I composed a poem from these thoughts as I reminisced and stood face-to-face with so much beauty before me:
Jeweled rose quartz, how I love
An open soul and swan's heart
Chance or design to reminisce
Knowing what is genuine, yet
Isolated by life otherwise well lived
Endless is Love and Laughter
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The afternoon progressed. A hint of longing - like caressing a favorite smoothened stone that comforts one's hand and soul by the mere touch of it - as I departed from one frame of thought to other tasks at hand. The quiet time for reflection ended for now.
Returning to the hotel, Mike and I met up with our good friend, Vik Nat and Peter Loeb, our final driver on this westward journey. They had flown in to Denver from Atlanta this afternoon, retrieved the van from Happy Api, and arrived to Fort Collins. Vik will be our new cycling Blaze Brother for about a thousand mile stretch from Fort Collins to Las Vegas helping to pull us over the Rockies and beyond. His climbing prowess is one of cyclist lore back home where steep hills are no stranger to our quadriceps along our training routes near our homes or amidst the beautiful GA mountains. We call him "Sherpa" out of great respect. And he is a very good friend. Thank you to his wife, Sukhmani, for sharing him with us these next few weeks.
Peter is an adventure traveler with his wife Elaine. They live in Johannesburg, South Africa and spend many months in Atlanta, GA to visit with his daughter, Sandra and her family. I serve as Pediatrician for Peter's grandchildren and so we connected to have him enjoy the western half of the USA which he has never truly experienced.
Welcome aboard senior statesman! I am sure his experienced wisdom and fellow lust for adventure will enable an exciting second half of our journey as we get to know each other better.
Through a friend back home, Mike arranged a personal tour of the New Belgium Brewing company's headquarters and manufacturing plant in the old town area of Fort Collins. We met Jared and Jen, husband and wife who have worked at the facility for many years. The company, a top craft brewery in the USA, maintains a vibrant bicycle-inspired culture as demonstrated by its numerous bicycle-designed creative sculptures and mechanisms and decorative elements. We were among friends in the cycling world. The tour included free samplings of numerous very tasty beers, particularly their signature Flat Tire label, which all enjoyed. I also learned about sour beers, one which the company makes has the New Belgium label "Lafolie" made in giant barrel casks known as foeders (pronounced, "fooders"). I imagine it would pair well with a hearty dinner. After feeling a bit high on beer samples on an empty stomach since breakfast, and feeling the "foodies" we thanked Jared and Jen for their great tour and headed to dinner at a tasty Italian restaurant, Bisetti's on South College Ave, where I personally enjoyed one of the most delicious eggplant parmigiana I had ever tasted.
Back to hotel. Time for rest and more reflection from the pleasant relaxing day shared with friends, new and old. We would begin the second half of our migration in the morning. The Rockies were calling for us now.
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