We Only Have This Moment

One thing that I am acutely aware of as I ride is the fragility of life.  There are a number of reminders of this fact.  First, there are white cross markers on many of the road that show where people have died on that road.  Sometimes there are a number of them together.  Sometimes they are decorated or have names of the fallen on them.  We saw this one ghost bike on the road, memorializing a fellow rider.  The number of them we see is sobering and you know there is a person with a life’s story behind each and every one.

Then there is all the myriad of road-kill that litters the roads, especially the shoulder of the highways.  We have seen dead raccoons, deer, dogs, cats, skunks, and unidentified bones.  It makes me sad to see so much death. 

Finally, there is the inherent danger of riding the roads.  For the most part, motorists have been quite courteous and usually give us a lot of space.  This is especially true of the truckers who will slow down, change lanes, and wave at us.  However, there is the occasional jerk who speeds by way too close or yells at us out the window startling me and putting me on edge.  I am aware that it only takes one drunk or texting driver to crash into us and that would be it.  I don’t think about this too much.  I do try to be as cautious as I can and do all I can do to be safe while riding. Yet, I know that living is dangerous and we never know when our day will be.  Given that, I feel that I have to do my best to live in this moment (not to sound too new agey). 

The trip is good for that actually.  Lots of times there is nothing I can do, but pedal or eat or sleep.  Although there are other life chores I still have to do, much of it is reduced to riding, eating as well as one can out of a gas station, and getting as much sleep as one can given the various circumstances in which we find ourselves.

I hope when I get back that there is a bit of carry over – that I can continue to focus on the present and the moments that I have in this life I have.