In the Course of a Year

“To See a World in a Grain of Sand 
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower, 
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand 
And Eternity in an hour.” 

- William Blake, Auguries of innocence*

(* or, if you ask me, from the note in the clock in the eternal classic, 'Tomb Raider') 

A lot can happen in the course of a year. Sometimes a year can feel like an eternity. If you've ever experienced a serious illness or injury (one that has a recovery time in units not of days or weeks, but of months), unexpectedly (or maybe even worse, expectedly) lost someone very close to you, or been through a divorce (even the "easy" ones take infinitely longer than you ever wanted) you'll know what I mean. Great friendships can be made, or lost, in the course of a year. And sometimes it can feel like the blink of an eye - a year full of vacations and stunning, life-changing adventures, graduations and new jobs, weddings, and  births. And sometimes, though it seems like the laws of the universe should make this impossible, it can feel like both at the same time.  

I've been outside the radius and in more directions in the past year than ever before - twice West to Colorado, four times South to the Smoky Mountains and the Carolinas, once East to the Appalachians. Venturing out seems to be like waking up at 545am for an early workout - the more you do it, the more doable it gets. Taking the time off work, locking down the house, holding the mail, finding a sitter for the pets - it all gets to be pretty easy. Or maybe it only seems easy relative to how much you feel the adventure is worth? The motto that hit me like a bolt of lightening (almost literally) during last year's Lizard Head Cycling Guide's Colorado US Pro Cycling Challenge bike tour:  'Experiences. Not Things.', seems to have not only taken hold, but has wrapped itself around me and locked into place hard and strong. I don't think it's letting go ... and I know I don't want it to. I came home to a house full of 'things', far more than I could ever need. For the past year very little has come in, and a constant flow of donation bags and boxes continues to go out. I've experienced far more - and not just outside the radius - there's an infinite number of experiences INSIDE the radius too (which becomes obvious as soon as you dig yourself out from under your pile of 'things'). It's been a long, spectacularly-exhausting time of go-go-go .... and it's gone by in a flash.   

A year has passed since that bike tour. The four of us locals who went last year had the time of our lives. We all said that it was an incredible experience, but we didn't know if we would be doing it ever again - there are just too many other adventures out there to spend time and money repeating one no matter how great it was. But then we slowly discovered that as the weeks went by we were still talking about the tour with that uncontrollable glint in our eyes. We'd drift happily back into the mountains for a bit ... to Cottonwood's dirt road and a lightening storm on Rabbit Ears Pass ... to a little-known lake hidden between two ridges in Crested Butte ... to a gourmet lunch at the bend of a river in a gorgeous-middle-of-middle-of-nowhere canyon with like-minded souls ... to feeling the enormous rush of wind and adrenaline following the Pro Peloton when they fly by just feet away from you .... and then slowly sink back to reality, to our desks and computers and far-too-many meetings a measly 900ft above sea-level. And then someone would casually say, 'Hey, didn't you ride your bike out in Colorado last year?' ... and like an alcoholic with one swig left at the bottom of a bottle of whiskey, we'd be right back where we were, counting the months on our fingers. 

It was inevitable. 

Sada really had no choice but to return - how could he not defend his Race Within The Race (RWTR) crown? The indomitable drive and passion in him that won it can't be capable of letting it out of his clutches without one hell of a fight. Todd and I had a few conversations in the following months about the 2012 tour: 'Are you going?' ... 'I don't know, are you?' ... but when it came time to sign up we simply both did, as if we knew we would all along. So did John Martin, the man behind last year's tour, the one who got us all to go in the first place - the tour wouldn't happen at all without him.

2011 RWTR Winner: John Sada (and anonymous impromptu domestique)

In addition to the four of us, SEVEN more are coming from our flat state. Friends, cohorts, people we sat next to on the bus and forced to listen to our fabulous mountain riding tales (just kidding, we rarely ride the bus, but if we did ...). Five of them ventured outside the radius with me on one of my Colorado trips - my first official scout trip searching for where I hope to someday call home. After that spectacular adventure, I knew the odds of at least some of them coming out for the 2012 Pro Tour were pretty astronomical: we climbed the Manitou Springs Incline (there can be nothing else like it), ate fresh Colorado elk (sorry vegetarian friends, but it was out-of-this-world delicious), and slept (rather, laid still and quiet between parades to the 'detached restroom') in a Yurt in a snow storm (check out Tennessee Pass Cookhouse and Yurts if you're intrigued, Ty and Roxanne will take VERY good care of you!). 

The Manitou Incline.The vertical white stripe waaaaay down between the trees and beneath the clouds is where it starts.

Above the clouds on the Incline. Olympians play here (and some flatlanders).

The Scouts. That kind of happiness has to mean return trips.

Yes, six Ohio idiots DO fit inside a Yurt. It's really quite cozy.

The other two are riding buddies, who I suspect are going, in part, so we'll finally shut up about how they really need to go and experience the mountains themselves. One will be working as an 'official' domestique for Sada in his attempt to hang onto the yellow jersey. He'll have to find a way to curb his tendency to tail rare birds and point out dazzling purple flowers and beautiful grasses as he's helping Sada rip the hearts out of the other RWTR riders. The other, I suspect, will be somewhere closer to my world, marveling over how anyplace on this planet can be so breathtaking in whichever direction you happen to point your head. In total, we'll be heading west with a mid-western posse the size of a soccer (football, for the non-US world) team. Unbelievably, we also had MANY others that were genuinely interested ... they just couldn't join us due to other on-going adventures: keeping newborn babies alive, a desire to stay married to their non-cycling spouse, all-time-and-all-funds-consuming Ironman training, etc. Maybe another time, another adventure.

Terry, the Lou-zianne flatter-lander from last year, is returning as well. We never figured out how a guy from one of the few states flatter than ours (roughly at sea-level, give or take 20ft, and sometimes, unfortunately, below sea-level) could climb so well!? He's bringing a few friends this year and the word on the street is that they may have their own unified team strategy for the RWTR.

Humphries, the Lizard King, who raged the battle against Sada in last year's RWTR and unbelievably lost a six minute lead on the final stage into Boulder, will of course be back with a vengeance trying to bring the crown back to its rightful mountain home. Rumor has it he has some help joining him on the tour this year as well, though details remain sketchy, and stories have been spreading East about intense 11 hour training days and an arsenal of secret weapons.

As of right now, there will be 22 guests on this year's trip, plus 4 guides, and 2 vehicles ... and we hope to meet up with a couple ex-flat-lander friends, now Lyons (Boulder) residents, for at least one day of the tour. In comparison, last year there were only 6 of us, plus 2 guides and 1 van ... plenty of room to stretch out for impromptu naps (we could all get to know each other VERY well this year). I don't know the other riders yet, but I can only imagine the colorful characters that we'll have ... and the colorful stories to match. By all counts, this year's trip should be over THREE TIMES as spectacular as last year! I'm not sure how that can possibly be .... but can't wait to find out.

In addition to the RWTR there may also be a "Race Away From Bears (RAFB)" event, led by Tani, the most bear-averse member of our crew. We have been subjecting her to periodic desensitization treatments, but with limited success (she's a hard nut to crack on the bear issue).

 One of our many bear desensitization attempts.
Video: http://www.brokenpromisesrescue.com

Ann has instituted the "Race to Meet the Pros (RTMP)". She's on a mission to spot Hincapie, Phinney and Tejay, and I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for Jens, Jens and Jens. True, a year ago I thought Cadel Evans was a country singer ... but a year can be an eternity, and that's plenty of time for getting completely sucked in to the world of cycling, from watching the Paris-Roubaix (and the amazing Tom Boonen with his jackhammer arms on cobblestones) to the 2012 Tour de France (with the dominating Bradley Wiggins, and the EVER awesome Jens Voigt - heroes can also be made or lost in the course of a year).

The Pro Tour starts in 6 days. We fly out in 3 - it feels like an eternity ... and a blink. Our bikes are already there, and Lizard Head will bring them to our hotel this weekend, all ready to go, just like last year - all we have to do is hop on and ride. Easy peasy! Having done this trip once I know the days are going to feel ridiculously long ... and yet nowhere near long enough. I know there are going to be moments where I wonder why in god's name I willingly subjected myself to this magnitude of suffering yet again (last year I could at least claim ignorance) ... and moments where I can't imagine a more perfect instant in time or space.

And, though right now I can't even fathom the circumstances .... how or when or why it'll happen ... I know there are going to be those unique and priceless moments that are both at exactly the same time.

Our entire flat-lander soccer team is all-in on gathering spectacular photos and unbelievable stories this year (and we hope some of our soon-to-be-friends-at-least-for-the-course-of-this-tour will do the same) ... from the front-lines of the RWTR ... to stories from inside the SAG vehicles .... and anything in between. We'll share what we have the time and energy for, the moments that matter, for those who can't be there ... and for our own memories. Come on along!