The morning didn't start off all that well. When i got up i had a sore throat, black sunken eyes, and still felt exhausted, so instead of running my 10 miler i ate breakfast and went back to bed. After waking up an hour and a half later, i felt more rested, but still not all that alive so i'll have to run 10 miles tomorrow morning pretty much no matter how i feel. It's much too close to the marathon to slack off now.
But, just to prove the fact that how you feel is predominantly determined by how you think you feel, the day improved dramatically in early afternoon when i got an email from the library telling me that my copy of Bicycling Coast to Coast: A Complete Route Guide Virginia to Oregon had come in. This definitely put me in a better frame of mind, so even though i'm wearing jeans and a light flannel shirt in 80° weather, without even thinking about it i hopped on my bike and rode down to pick it up. While there, i sat and read the introductory sections at the front of the book and was completely lost in heavenly dreams. I'm slightly worried that the library is going to make me pay for it now because i drooled all over a good many of the pages.
While there, i looked in the catalog to see if there was a book on the Grand Illinois Trail that they could get for me as well, but didn't see anything listed. When i got home, i googled it, and was surprised to see that there is a guidebook specifically about the trail (The Complete Grand Illinois Trail Guidebook: The Midwest's Biggest Outdoor Adventure) and that the Barnes & Noble bookstore here in Joliet had a copy on the shelf. I traded the bike for the car and immediately ran over to buy it.
So here i sit, early in the evening, with two books in front of me, both screaming for attention and both shouting "Me first. Me first. I'm better than he is. You'll regret it." Whichever i choose, though, having both of them has certainly played havoc with the queue of books i had already lined up to work on. Something is now going to have to give.
I thought i could make a decision on where to begin by looking at how the books start, but that just added to the confusion.
The GIT book starts out with:
"There is a joy to being on the trail. You can see it in people's eyes. It is a combination of fresh air and friends, a mix of exercise and relaxation.
"It makes you happy."
Oh, how so very, very true that is. Short, to the point, but unquestionably on the mark; being 'on the trail' just makes you happy, it's that plain and simple, and you can see these experiences in people's eyes.
The cross-country book starts with:
"Stretching from the historic town of Yorktown, Virginia, to the awesome beauty of Oregon's coast, the original TransAmerica Bicycle Trail embraces ten states, a potpourri of small American towns, and a multitude of landscapes.
"Spanning more than 4,100 miles, the route snakes through the ruggedly step hills of Virginia, embraces the rural countryside of Kentucky, roller coasters through the Missouri Ozarks, and bisects the nearly flat plains of Kansas. From there, it greets the Rocky Mountains and the Great Basin country of Colorado, follows the path of the pronghorn antelope in Wyoming, and explores the depths of Big Sky Montana. The route continues into Idaho, where it parallels one river after another before emerging into Oregon, where mountain climbs are common and the scenery is both beautiful and intense.
"Heading west like the pioneers, you too can fulfill your dreams of completing a cross-country journey, but without the hardships endured by the immigrants who followed the Oregon Trail. And like those pioneers, you can look forward to the grandeur of the Rocky Mountains, to moonlike scenes atop McKenzie Pass in Oregon's Cascade Mountains, and to that thrilling moment when you reach the Pacific Ocean."
(See, didn't i tell you? If you drooled on your monitor and keyboard while reading that, don't blame me.)
"Awesome beauty." "Beautiful and intense." "Grandeur." "Moonlike scenes." "Thrilling." Unless you are brain dead, those words have to cut right to your heart.
So, Mr. Decision Maker, what are you going to do? Dream of 500 miles tonight? Or, dream of 4,100 miles?
No comments:
Post a Comment