Dawn Patrol

Woke up at 5:oo this morning. Hopped on the moto and rode up to the Parkway. Made it up to Devil's Courthouse while it was still dark. The plan was to watch the sunrise. The sunrise was nice, but it was the weather that pleased me the most. 65 degrees, crisp, low humidity, and a nice breeze.

It is funny how the human brain works. At that exact moment, the weather made me remember the two other times in my life when the weather was identical.

I remembered swinging on a tire swing at the babysitter's (where my brother and I were soon to be kicked out ) when I was in 4th grade. It was a early October afternoon. I was on a tire swing, not the kind that hangs vertically, but the horizontally hung type that hangs on 3 chains. I was wearing a yellow "Fayette County Elementary Tigers" T- shirt. I loved that shirt. I remember hanging out of the swing and spinning, looking up at the fall leaves in a state of total bliss. I could have stayed there for hours.

The next time I felt this way, I was in Charleston 4 years ago, late Oct, early Nov. I was riding my Mountain Bike out to Fort Johnston to ride some illegal trails. It was the same type of weather- crisp with a nice breeze blowing in off the marsh. The trails were in great condition, the leaves had just started to hit the ground. I wasn't there to train, race season was over. I was riding because I enjoyed it. Rode for awhile , then took one of the trails that meandered out to the beach. Got out to the beach and was completely content for a few moments. With the breeze on my face, the smell of the marsh, and the sound of the waves, I could close my eyes and imagine I was anywhere I wanted to be.

Anyways, the sun was up now, so I fired up the moto and headed down Hwy 215 to Waynesville. That was a really fun road to ride. Further down, at Lake Logan, there was a Triathalon being held. Tons of people were running and riding bikes. They had the swim course laid out in the lake with bouys. Amazing how many more people there were there than the Mountain Bike National Event I attended last weekend. On to Waynesville- Candler- Hwy 151 to the Parkway ( another great road- lots of tight turns ) back down 276 to FR 475, past the Fish Hatchery, to Ingles for a muffin, then Home. 110 miles on the bike, 1 mile hike, 1 sunrise, 1 triathalon, and a muffin before 9:00. Now I can trim some bushes and mow the grass. Later- DH