The whir

Once again I rode with the velo-club last night and as we rode over those first few miles my day and all that went with it just disappeared. I found myself listening to the whir of the drive train multiplied by 25.  The soft sound of tires on the black asphalt, the coasting cassettes and even strokes of the pedals released the deepest, almost hidden hint of today's non-sence at work. It mesmerized me and then the reality of why I am soulishly  attached to cycling.
My first cycling race I attended was as an observer. All kinds of guys and every category was to be raced that day. I placed my self at the starting line which I found out was like waiting a week to eat a good meal only to gobble it down in one bite. The flag was dropped and they were gone. So repositioning  myself to the flat just before the huge incline was a good way to see the riders as they blasted out of the right hand corner into a little strait and up this huge hill with a righty at the top. Even after a huge pile up in the cat 4 race, the last of the day, I was HOOKED.
Road racing on a small closed circuit is cool but it's not like a point to point race by any stretch of the imagination. If your a spectator at a point to point race it just goes by you in a flash,  but if your a rider it's a continual mental, physical and psychological check with yourself and other riders. However there are those times when you daze out for just a few moments here and there. That's when I first started to hear the whir.  Everyone in the saddle at that instant is in an apex of time/space with everyone else and the raw power of the moment is overwhelming. But it  is also a power that feds you and you share with everyone in this dance that intermingles both men and machine.
This is what I hear when I watch the tours, the movies and the 'this is your life' stuff on video. Not how this or that was done but the real nature of cycling, the soul exposed for all to hear if they are listening.
So last night I was again reminded of my true nature, our power when we work together and the peace it brings to us when we are chatting it up as we put kit away for another day.
If I pass you on the road stop at Peets, because your buying.