I opened my eyes at 6:30 this morning to blue skies and almost fell out of bed - first time in ??? A perfect day to cross the 5,000 mile mark. Set out around lunchtime and decided to do my usual ride - and celebrate the milestone wherever I happened to be. I tried not to think too much about it, but the closer I got, the more I started estimating and guessing, a kind of mileage roulette… “Ok, seven miles to go, I’m on Fort Ward Hill, maybe I’ll head around Rockaway Beach and be at Port Blakely Cemetery…. Ok, looks like I won’t be at the cemetery, maybe Toe Jam Hill! - okay, two miles to go at the top of Toe Jam Hill… Hey! looks like it’s gonna be Fort Ward Park!” And, sure enough, the big “O’s” rolled over at the north entrance to the park, just north of the boat launch.
Of all the places I could have been, this one is truly special. In fact, when I hit this stretch of the park, coming off South Beach Road (as I’ve done so many times) something greets me that I can only define as “south end magic.” It’s in the pungent smell of the beach and the expanse of the sky, the view of the water and the road ahead that leads to the ”promenade” of the park - it all seems to rise up to meet me. The feeling takes me back to memories of time spent at the Country Club and Restoration Point… there is something about the south end of Bainbridge Island that will always have a sweet place in my heart. And I can’t count the number of times I’ve been out on a routine ride in the past year, when a sweeping feeling of joy has hit me right there, on that stretch of road, where I crossed 5,000 today.
Happily, there were lots of people out enjoying the sun this afternoon, so it was easy to get someone to take a picture. I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face - and it was actually fun to share the experience with a couple of total strangers! I asked a woman walking her Golden Retriever to snap a photo (she was very nice), then later, as I continued to try to get a good shot of the odometer, an older man on a bike stopped and said, “Would you like me to take a picture?” I told him why I was taking pictures and a huge smile spread across his face. He snapped a pic - see below.
After he left, I hung around, reluctant to leave, reveling in the moment, and in the sun, the water, the sky - the feeling of celebration. I knew the minute I got back on the bike, the “O” at the end would begin to turn. But I had to move on… Before I left, I spontaneously planted a kiss on the handlebars of LRB. There’s no doubt about it. This little bike is my best friend.
