BSTRA Ride-Roll-Run Relay: A Great Example of Living in the NOW!

It was a good race on Sunday.  I found out about the race from a friend I work with.  We have been on trail committees together also.  Anyway, I’m a mountain biker and love the kind of riding that was required in this race: cross country on and off road.  29er tires pumped up hard and ready to go fast.

I didn’t know either of my team-mates prior to race day.  Becky was our horse rider (and the head of BSTRA…nice that!).  Jessie was our runner.  A cute young lady that was built lean like a runner (I was once a runner in another life).  We kicked butt.  The horses went first (6.8 miles) and Becky was the second one to the transition area.  The first biker on the course headed out about 10 minutes ahead of me. Then it was my turn.

I got on my Stump Jumper 29er and took off.  I had ridden the course several times before the race and was completely confident in my ability to blaze the trail.  I expected to do a time of about 35 minutes.  I finished in 31 minutes and was THE FASTEST BIKER!  I passed the bracelet to Jessie and she was off on the 5 mile run course.  I have no idea how she did for time (not posted on the BSTRA page yet) but she did great as we came in First Place!  “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly” was our team name.  If my memory is accurate: we came in at 2:07:00, 2^nd was 2:10:00 and 3^rd was 2:13:00, so it was a close one.  All I know is, I went as fast as I could and never looked behind me.  Actually, I could have gone faster...

We got nice medals with blue ribbons. I love stuff like this.  I’m competitive to the point of lunacy.  I can tell you this: I don’t remember much about my race. I was on auto pilot almost.  I was on a mission.  I was the epitome of living right now…right then.  Nothing else mattered, just getting over that course as fast as possible. I now know I can break 30 minutes and that will be my goal if they have the race again next year and I hope they do.  It was a great idea for a relay race, especially since the idea is to promote all these ways of enjoying the 5000+ acres in the Douglas State Forest and other trail systems.

This was my first “race” in a very long time.  I had to stop running due to bad knees.  I was heading to a point where I was going to need my right knee replaced.  I loved road races.  I’ll have to find at least one more race for this year…two more would be better.

This race again, was a great example of Right Now thinking.  A mountain bike race meditation!  It was about getting through that course as fast as possible, big ring most of the time in the woods, keeping the eyes open for obstacles on the trails and making sure to have plenty of momentum on the rolling uphills.  Of course, for me, it was also important to ride that course several times before race day.  This turned out to serve me well as many riders got lost due to poor planning and to be fair, the course could have been marked a bit better.

I’m sleeping over at the Zen Center Wednesday night.  I will have some info on that after…

Peace and clear mind…

Three Rabbits and a Dead Cat

Went for a bike ride after work yesterday.  It was a beautiful day.  Was tired and was going to stay home but dragged the bike out and headed for the woods.  Saw a rabbit right away, scampering along doing its thing.  Living in the NOW.  Then there were two more and who knows what those two were up to.  They were all enjoying a marvelous day.  They weren't carrying around anything from the past and they weren't concerned about anything other than what they were doing at that moment.  Marvelous!  It was said before but we can learn a lot from the animal world.

Eventually went to a place to do some hill work (to get stronger at climbing hills).  At the top of the hill there was a dead cat that must have recently been hit by a car.  It looked like my cat Simon, a ragdoll.  They should never go outside. They are not smart about traffic and they are too trusting.  It probably got loose.  This was sad to see but Zen teaches that there is no difference between that dead cat and those living rabbits.

We all come and go on this planet (and perhaps to others).  We live many lives in physical form and our true selves live forever.  That cat's journey in that particular role is over.  We all have roles in our daily lives and roles in each of our lives.  These "roles" are not who we really are.  Who we really are is what we were before we were born and after we die.  It should be a happy time to go back home.  The cat is back home and perhaps soon to receive a new role.  Life and death is the same in Zen as the true self never dies.  The cat is not dead it just no longer needs that particular shell.  That dead cat is not the cat.  Make sense?

This relates well to what is now going on with Ralphy, my dog.  He is going on 15 years old and has been sick off and on for the last year or so.  He has dimentia and can't hear or see very well.  He also is not drinking enough water and is getting constantly dehydrated.  He has been to the vet regularly lately, most recently for a large lump on his neck.  It is getting better with antibiotics.  His dimentia is better with meds.  He sleeps better with the help of Xanax, a tranquilizer.  This life journey for him is coming to a close.  It is sad.  He is part of the family and has been for a long time.  But, it is also not sad because soon he is going back home.

Death is a part of life and life is part of a bigger picture which is beyond what most of us can understand.  We are not the body we inhabit.  We are what is left when our body is gone.  We are what we were before we were born.  We are as infinite as the universe.

Peace and clear mind...

Be the Hawk

This reminds me of last weekend when I was riding in Franklin.  I had to ride through some trails along high tension wires.  A red tail flew above me from behind and landed on the next furthest stanchion, up on the top.  The wires were buzzing loud.  I wondered how they know what they can and can’t sit on.  I decided to be the hawk, to try out the Zen I have been practicing.

When I got close enough, it flew off and headed for the next furthest stanchion away and watched me.  It was watching me the whole time.  Anyway, eventually we both lost interest and I headed down a nice downhill single track that runs from the YMCA in Franklin to Grove Street.   Normally, I have to say (and those that ride with me will agree) I’m a pretty timid rider.  Well, on this downhill I glided smooth and fast and felt like I was soaring or flying.  For a short time, I WAS the hawk.  That was cool.  The feeling was gone before I got to Grove Street but fun while it lasted.

On the opposite side of the coin today, I came home and got myself all riled up because my light for my bike wouldn’t work right.  There is something wrong with the battery pack.  I spent so much time trying to fix it and getting worked up, I ended up deciding to go to the gym only to blow that off too.  I was the battery pack when I came home.  I made myself a piece of technology…busted technology.  That didn’t make much sense.  When I was the hawk, I was free.  When I was stuck inside technology, I was a mess.  There is a moral there…

Peace...clear mind!