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 2
nd 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.
Well, it happened. and we didn't die. which is what i thought might happen. it was my first and todd's third.
this is around mile 22. notice i am staggering in the background. we had some helpful encouragement at this point. thanks guys! todd's family and jez and sara kept us going. unfortunately my family couldn't make it. my mom was making crafts with my sister in tooele for super saturday. i was hoping they would have a hand painted "good job" at the finish line, but maybe next year.
jez titled this picture "pumping up the jam." that was all i could muster.
now this is fun. this picture and the one below it is a little contrast between todd's last marathon and this one. creepishly you can hardly tell todd is the same person. he has just changed so darn much.
and the theatrical finish. not todd's best marathon time, but i think the greatest accomplishment is that he somehow stayed with me the entire race. overall it was a great time. i was expecting it to be a little more dramatic, like more runner's trotting and what not. we had a few classic annoying people yelling out motivational one liners like "who owns this marathon?? the people in bed? no we do!" it reminded me of when i worked at wendy's and our manager would yell out while flipping hamburgers.. "Quality is my speed limit!" so. actually we were surprisingly happy the whole time. i kept thinking that at some point i would just wish it was over. that came around about mile 24, but for the most part there was no where else i could think of that i would rather be. i just wanted to experience every step of it. so for all of you who are considering one, if i can do it, so can you. and to all of you who were my inspiration, thanks! it was awesome!
