8.20.2008

infintiy miles per hour


well, it has been a long while. maybe for the better. but i was thinking yesterday as i rode my bike what a different planet it was from a bikes view versus a cars. i really started riding a bike a lot my last year in college when i totaled my car (the spirit) on the way home from logan. that day stands out so vivid in my head... mare driving by in shock while i stood by the concrete wall on the high way, reaching out to touch the spirit one last time before it got towed but just missing it as they pulled it away, taking all the costumes out of the back at the dump yard(the elf ears, the mexican dress). and suddenly my college experience and my relationship with logan changed. todd lent me team fuji, a bike creed had given him. i rode that bike everywhere. i learned things about logan i had never noticed before. every hill and road had more meaning. the road in front of old main hill, the steep one down to the island, the distance between 2nd and 3rd dam, it all meant more. i planned around riding my bike, choosing stores and banks that were closer. i learned to carry snow cones and italian sodas while talking on the phone. it was great. one thing i learned was how much more personal the world is from a bikes view. i remember riding team fuj to school one cold day and seeing a cigarette still burning orange and smoking on the road. it was so personal and nostalgic. and now that we have pulled out the bikes again, salt lake city is becoming personal too. when i go down a street i notice the houses, the trees, the smell of the flowers and lavender bushes. i can spy on people in their houses and smell what they are having for dinner. i've found little nooks i would have just passed by in the car. but the best and most personal part is the people we pass. i can hear weird conversations in cars. i have awkward moments waiting at lights with other bikers. i hear them yell out when they think they might get hit by a car. i get flipped off. and when i do i can see the anger coming right out of their eyes. and the high light is that we saw a personal trainer and an awkward girl running with weights. i would have never gotten to see their faces that good from a car. so it is all quite fun.

on a different note, i would like to do a thing called "no more pun". i love puns as much as the next human, but there are a few out there that need to stop. these are puns that have lost the fun. the first one is: "wok and roll". fun when it first came out, but now... no more pun. too many asian cuisines have drained the goodness out of this once punny pun.

and i almost stepped on a rattlesnake.

oh, and as for the title, infinity miles per hour. maybe wild bri could model his t shirt on the ravens nest or something. just an idea.

11 comments:

Jill said...

i loved your thoughts ash. its so true you notice/enjoy so much more when you just slow down.
i love walking here in nyc and claim i will walk a lot more wherever we live... we'll see how i do.

dana said...

You guys look so great. I miss you!!

mare said...

oh for goodness sake you're back.

it's ironic that i would read this today, i just got back from walking around my new 'town' with emery. we took two different walks today and i after three hours of it, i disagree completely. i love cars. just kidding, just playing the d.a. as you know so well. i actually had a lot of those same particular thoughts-- i noticed so many nooks and weird shortcuts. it was no logan where there is some awkward apt. building shoved behind four others that you discover one day, or all of the sudden realize there's a skitz skate park and aquatic center after living there for a year, but it had a kind of majesty. luckily, the bikes were both on top of my car when i "parked" under the carport; and by parked i mean ran into. so for now the walking will have to do.

orem is just a hop skip and a jump away-- want to hang out this weekend?

remember when i wrote nineteen paragraphs on your blog comments?

james taylor was always mine.
call me.

mare said...

oh yeah, and what good is a comment without commenting on how you look? ya look real good ash--cute as a bug.

Debi said...

speaking of bike rides and Logan. . . remember when I saw you in Logan on a bike ride. The great thing is that only minutes before I ran into you, I flipped over my bike because I was admiring my new wedding ring. anyway, that was regular, wasn't it. I wish I was a personal trainer.

wild murdocks said...

Yes, I do need to have Brian do more "modeling" in general. I'll see if I can talk him into a photo shoot.

Hope you are doing well! Did you start the new job?

wild bri said...

Biking is for all those losers in the 3rd World, we are Americans we must consume or die. I agree with that dude from Kamas we should really be trying to run over bikers when we see them, I mean how are you even contributing to the economy if you are not using the lifeblood of capitalism oil, sweet oil?

On another note keep your eyes open for a super hot photo of me and my sweet T.

Unknown said...

thanks for helping me keep things in perspective wild bri! i'll call doug. he should air this! god bless america!

and i can't wait for the model shots!

Newty said...

Wow Bri, that's some big time sarcasm for a guy that is half owner and co-founder of the Murdock Mayhem Supercross snowmobile team! You know what they say, If you're not part of the solution, then you're part of the problem! and yes I am aware that I am a huge part of the problem, in fact I used gas to mow some kentucky bluegrass right here in the desert just today.SINNER

Bethany said...

toddAsh,
I enjoyed your biking words. I will think of them when I am riding to and from work praying that people will see my little blinking lights and I won't get run over---but I do agree that it is a prettier world. Oh, by the way, you're home?

Bethany said...

This is Kelly. I am not skilled at the blogging, so I am using bethany's account.