A Taste of Reality

I’d made it 65 miles and felt pretty good. I was clean, well-packed, well-fed, and ready for bed. I finished Finding Kindness and turned off the lights. Oh how my body revolted. The elbows, the knees, I felt it in my throat. I tossed and turned and yearned for sleep to take me. It was a long night. I finally found some respite from 3:30 AM to 8:00 AM and then it was time to pack up and set off.

The route from Gridley to Chico meanders through rice fields and trickles up the valley with California State 99 to the right. I hit my first patch of gravel and find the bike moves slower, but generally feels decent and I’m able to keep it upright. I stop off at the Nelson post office for a snack and continue the journey North.

The weather has been kind. High 50s to low 60s with a gentle breeze to keep things cool. It’s an occasional headwind but so far it’s kept the nastiness to a minimum. As I approach Chico, the roads leave behind rice and pick up orchards. Soon, I find myself on a bike path and just after 12 O’clock, I pull into the driveway of today’s home.

After a brief lunch and a few glasses of water, I get to work in the garden. With all the rain and the long winter, everything’s off to a late start. Lettuce, kale, chard, and arugula are all ripe for the picking. Tomatoes, peppers, and pumpkins went into the ground last week. The job list today is simple: unload a truck bed of horse manure, clear an old and overgrown bed, add a layer of manure, then alfalfa, and then manure again, and soak it all. Tomorrow we can plant.

As evening approaches, we trundle our tools back to the shed and head inside for a well deserved shower. After dinner, I hop online and plan the next two weeks up to Portland. We’re looking at shorter mileage days with a significant increase in elevation. Time to see what this bike can do.

I’m invited to go to hot yoga in the morning and seeing that the body needs some healing, I decide there’s nothing better. Off to bed nice and early and this time, I sleep great. As the fourth day approaches, I’m expecting some yoga, a return to the garden, 48 miles to Red Bluff, a search for a laundromat, and another beautiful day. Last night’s aches and pains disrupted me a bit but after today, I’m back in action. This is exactly what I was looking for.