Zealot

I was at my friend Karl's shop yesterday and Jacuie Phelan called. She just wanted to say 'hi' and that she liked the Klunk patch she had picked up a few months earlier during her 4200mile cross-country ride.

I knew who she was and remembered an amazing picture of her caked in mud but hadn't ever read any of her writing. Man, have I been missing out.

Here's a sample:
"The Bicycle Bond, one of the strongest known, derives its power from the inescapable fact that riding turns the rider into a Zealot. If the rider is already a Zealot, then they become a Major Pain In The Butt Zealot, the kind of person that attempts to create links from cycling to any other subject of conversation that might come up among a group of uncyclists, to rope the discussion back under control.

I am one of them. With much help, I have learned to rein in this urge, but I have to admit it to the world, here in my little blog.
Zealots know that

–bicycling, whether on skinny tires or fat, is a low-impact activity that alleviates the ills of mostpodern humanity.

–bicycling does not abide the mental yo-yo game between past and future that we allow to pass for reality. The bicycle obliges you to be precisely here, at this moment…Poised in perfect balance between the dime-sized oval blobs that connect the tire to the ground. Oh, all right, then : on a road bike you can often get away with the yo-yo game more easily than on a mountain bike because concrete, asphalt, pavements promise a smooth surface.
Whether they keep that promise is another thing entirely.

And lastly, bicycling is cheap bliss—the celebrated endorphins eliminate the middle man (‘big Pharm” or shady illegal pharm/ag) and put you in full control of your dose."

Her blog: http://jacquiephelan.wordpress.com/

I went for a 3 hour hammer-fest with Fish, Shot, ProPam, and Alejo yesterday. Ethan said he was putting out 350-400w while holding Shot's wheel for the last 10-15 miles at the end of the ride! Today will be more of the same, although probably longer.