Another Chance

I went for a bike ride today and during that ride I thought about the title to yesterday's blog posting..."Last Chance".  

The forecast was to be rainy today and it got there, but was a dry, cool beautiful start to our last full day here at Heaton Bay campground.  All of a sudden we could do some outdoor things we did not think would be possible.  Our window of opportunity was mostly the morning to early afternoon before the rain would come.  I hit the bike path and Miki reached for her sketch pad.

At 45 degrees, it was a bit chilly, but not much wind.  Dressed in layers, it was nice to ride one more time.  As I started my ride, I did question my timing.  Would it not be more comfortable to let it warm up a bit?  I second guess myself a fair amount, but I was ready to ride.  I created my own wind chill as I rode to keep the heat I was generating fairly balanced.  I didn't cross paths with another cyclist until I got back to town on the other side of Swan Mountain.  It was a perfect ride.  I was alone, enjoying the aspen, the quiet, overlooking the lake, and the ride.  Even working hard, going up the mountain (really big hill) felt good.

At the top of Swan Mountain, the bike path connects to the road, so you share the ride down with motorists in their vehicles, thank goodness it is not a busy road (or at least when I've been on it).  After spending a good 30 minutes on a steady climb in a low gear, the 3 minute coast down was refreshing (along with the wind chill at 35 m.p.h.).  With the hard part out of the way, you wind your way back to town (Frisco) through trees of color and eventually back to the lake, that takes me home.

On Swan Mountain, looking back towards the doghouse.

These two trees made me stop and get off my bike.
The photo does not do them justice, they were on FIRE!

The bike path as I head back to town.  Unbefreakinlievable!

Once back into town, I crossed paths with a dozen plus other cyclists, each on a mission.  I usually try to wave and say hi to oncoming bikers, but today I'm not sure any of them returned the hospitality.  I wasn't dreaming this ride and I did see my reflection in some windows, so I know I was there.  After a while it started bumming me out.  Why are they so serious?  By this time the temperature had warmed a bit, the trees were awesome, and it wasn't raining.  I kept my greetings flowing.

By this time, the rain could be seen off in the distant mountains, but looked fairly mild and in no rush to chase me inside, so off I went to wet a line.  I got 4-5 good bites, but no takers.  I kept my eye on the approaching showers, just daring them to soak me.  Every time I was ready to call it quits, I would get a strike.  That was good for another 30 minutes of pushing my meteorological prediction skills.  Finally, I saw the drops hitting the surface of the water before i could feel them on my jacket.  They were not your regular raindrops.  It was as if raindrops had babies, that is what was coming down from the sky.  Very light, delicate droplets.  It was apparent that the fish went in to get out of the rain, so did I.

Later, we drove up to Copper Mountain to get our discount lift tickets for this winter.  The lonely gentleman that helped us was from Traverse City, MI.  Having been there last summer, we were able to carry on a fairly coherent conversation with him while he took care of our needs.  He had obviously had some birth defects.  His fingers and general features were not "normal."  He was very nice, took care of us, and were happy to have his help today.  It was his first time away from home in this capacity and seemed to be enjoying the change.

We hit the movies late afternoon for "Trouble With The Curve," with Clint Eastwood (really good).  A nice way to end our stint here in Summit County.

So, back to my "Last Chance" theme from yesterday.  It occurred to me on my ride today that there aren't really "last chances," but just chances.  Today I got another chance to ride my bike and experience the excellent views from the trail, even though others tried to dampen my exuberance (I think I know what that word means!).  I got another chance to fish, but really it gave me the chance to watch the incredible sight of the impending rain showers move in over the mountains.  I had the chance to not be "turned off" by the lift ticket guy and see he was just as normal as you and I, well maybe you anyway.  That reminds me...I met up with my toothless friend from the other day as I was walking out to fish and he was coming back from gathering wood, carrying it in his backpack.  From our short conversation, it appears he is homeless and seems to be on an endless journey at this point.  His next stop was to be Lake Mead.  Clint's movie too, was in a way about taking chances.

No more last chances here, we'll be back for another chance at the things we like to do in Summit County.


My Zen from the Road:  Not to be philosophical (I think) or anything, but no more last chances, just chances.  Last seems so final!

Bonus...Miki's twin nieces are back in school for their second year at Clemson and we happened to send them a little welcome back package last week.  Here, Grace sends her thanks and we send our reply.

Little animal socks from the Tetons, amongst the junk food care package.

Our cleverly inspired photo reply.  Notice the orange Clemson hat!