The Ancients

Sometime around 9a.m. this morning Father Sky relented his tireless testing of the structural integrity of my tent.  I arose from my twelve hours of fitful sleep and emerged to see clearing skies over the ocean.  I dressed quickly to avoid getting my precious insulation wet should another deluge begin.  Then it was back to the lost road for another 25 miles of steep switchbacks through beautiful rolling cattle country.  The bike is beginning to feel like an extension of my sensory self,  the thump-thump-thump of its little single cylinder engine mimicking  my own heart rate.  It pounds hard when we climb steep switchbacks just as my heart would when ascending a steep alpine snow slope.  It relaxes to a slow putter-putter when rolling across hilltops with unlimited horizons, as if it too recognizes the breathtaking beauty in this place.  I feel the wrinkles of the earth through its round rough hands.  We are becoming used to one another, aware of each other comfort zones, a silent understanding of what's too fast, what's too slow, and when our rhythms are in sync.

The road to the Lost Coast was indeed a portal...  It delivered me into a simple time, a place in time when people lived an uncomplicated life in harmony with the earth.  The animals who enjoy this majestic beauty beg me to not tell about the doorway to this enchanted place. As I ride further I drop from the Scottish Highland like pastures into the quiet solitude of the redwood forest.  Its inhabitants rise as much as 350 feet from the forest floor extending their arms toward the heavens as if to stand a thousand years in silent prayer and meditation.  They reach towards the heavens giving gratitude for there time on earth.   The speak of stillness, courage, integrity, and peace in a way that no other creature could.  They gently remind me of my insignificance in the universe and yet fill me with a renewed sense of the importance of each living person, each living creature.  They ask us to honor the old ways of stillness, courage, integrity, and peace that has allowed them to survive for centuries...