The Siren continues to call…
The Siren continues to call…
Perhaps at this point I should know better, but I don’t. After what I went through today, I should know
better to refer to the hills out on Northfront east of downtown Livermore the
Sirens, but I just can’t help myself. I
liken me needing to go ride these hills to what the old-time sailors would say
is the call of the Siren. They call and
I go to them.
I never waivered when I left home today. I was going to go out and ride Northfront up
and past Dyer and take it until I got the entrance for the Waste Management
Landfill. Did you know that I lived so
close to a Landfill? I sure didn’t. I would ride out that way until I either hit
the Landfill or 45-minute mark, then I would turn around and come back.
I climbed up to the gentle slop that is Northfront to Dyer without
much trouble. I stayed in middle ring all
the way up. I passed Dyer and thought I
will ride it when I come back by if I need the mileage and if I have the
time. No biggie we are going to see the
Landfill then we will head back.
I passed the Summit Garage.
It looked closed. I got a real
deliverance vibe from it. Especially,
when I saw like four dress shirts hanging out in front of it. I would be staying away from that place. I knew sooner or later I would come to some
downhills. That was ok. I had planned on having to come up and down
today. I also knew sooner or later I
would come to a sign that said narrow subway.
I knew I would see that before I got to the Landfill. So, I kept peddling until I got to my narrow subway.
I knew the landfill was beyond the subway, what I didn’t
realize or remember is that the landfill is right after the subway. I mean right after it. What I also didn’t remember from my scouting
drives is that once you get passed the subway you go down and you go down fast
and long. Oh, and as you go down fast
and long, you have no where to turn around.
So, as I blew by the landfill where I had planned on turning
around. I found myself in a conundrum. Just where in the hell was, I going to turn
around. The traffic during the week out
there is bad. Worse coming towards me
than from behind me. I needed to find a
good place to turn where I could see traffic coming and going. This just kept taking me down, and further
out. When I finally found a place to turn around, I was just about at the 40-minute
mark. I looked both ways and realized I could
see for a long distance in both directions, and I could sneak across the road
here and turn around and start back.
I started back west easy enough. It was fine, I was on a slight upward slope,
but I clipped in and started to peddle.
I wasn’t afraid to go back. I knew
there was a lot of up, and yes, I had come down at 28 MPH, but this wasn’t Del
Valle climbing. It was steady 2-4% grade
climbing, stuff I could handle, stuff I had trained for. I started my assent.
What I was meet with on my assent is a head wind the likes
of which I have never faced on the bike before.
Or at least one that I couldn’t remember. I was trying to climb as I tried to climb the
wind was literally beating the shit out of me.
I swear it was trying to push me off the bike. I was coming down a roller and I swear the
wind just picked up and said, no, you, you aren’t going anywhere and suddenly I
was stuck in mud going downhill, or that is what it felt like. This wind coming from west was possessed and
it just kept coming.
I realized as I was climbing the second upward slope that I
must have died crossing the road. That I
was dead and that I was in hell. Since
one of my worst nightmares is climbing and having a big head wind in my face. I just knew I didn’t make it across the road,
but rather I was in the deepest, darkest, depths of Hades Layer, living my own
personal hell. However, rationale thought
quickly came back to me and I knew a few things. If this was hell, then I wouldn’t have my
current bike seat on my bike, I would have the fine Italian bike seat on, and I
wouldn’t have padded shorts on, most likely I would be butt naked riding up
this hill with no padding on that wonderfully hard bike seat, so I realized I
had made it across the road, and I was just riding up the hills in a head wind
that wouldn’t stop and was trying to knock me off the bike. Also, that I had just angered the hill gods,
so they called down a strong head wind to fuck with me.
I tried to apologize to the hill gods as I climbed and got
bounded around by the wind. I really
did. I told them I was sorry, that there
rolling hills were harder than Del Valle.
I was coming through the narrow subway now and I was apologizing to the Northfront,
telling it I was sorry that I had not given it more props in my blog. I was coming to a downhill, and I needed a
bit of rest, so I was so looking forward to going down and the bike computer
said I was on a -2% grade and I should be able to coast and that fucking wind
and hill basically held me in place. I shit you not. I had to keep peddling and I got no
rest.
Something happened in me then and I snapped. I looked down at the road and told it to go
Fuck Itself. That I wasn’t sorry, and if
I was going to have to peddle going down this hill because of the wind then me
and this hill weren’t on the same page, and I was going to make it my bitch. So, that is what I did. I just kept peddling. I let the wind hit me in the face and beat me
all it wanted. I passed Dyer and I was uttering such profanities to the hill
that I don’t dare repeat them here. Let’s
just say it was very, very bad, and came from a place of much anger and
hate. Looking back on it now as I write, I loved
it. As much as I hated it, I loved
it. I wouldn’t change it for anything.
I would love to say that I got all the way down to the bottom
and the wind just stopped. However, the
headwind continued to plague me all the way down Northfront to Vasco. It wasn’t as sharp most of the time, but it
was still there and making its presence known to me. One time even it came out of no where and
almost knocked me over. I sweat it was
like getting slapped in the face. It was
probably the hardest 15 miles I have ridden.
It was painful but great. It was
a great training ride. I am looking forward
to pushing out even further on Northfront and see where the road takes me. Even if I must deal with that damn headwind
on the way home.
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