| (Long Distance) Ramblings |
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I like to ride my bicycle - for long distances. I have earned the California Triple Crown and finished the Furnace Creek 508. My goals include qualifying for RAAM and ...(read the blog to find out). "The bicycle has a soul. If you are able to love it as it deserves, it will give you emotions you will never forget." "Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of a bike ride."
"The important decisions in my life I make while out riding my bike."
"Pain is temporary, quitting lasts forever.” Lance Armstrong
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Monday, January 16, 2006
A Short StorySeveral years ago, we were returning to our home in Salem, Or. from a 120 mile ride where we climbed McKenzie Pass for lunch in Sisters, then climb the pass back to our car. There were three of us. My wife Joanne and I rode our Meridian tandem and Terry rode his prized Colnago. The bikes were on the top of our '95 Subrau Outback. We were passing through Springfield on a four land highway with turn lane traveling at fifty miles per hour or so. As we approached an intersection, an oncoming car turned in front of us. I slammed on the brakes and turned the steering wheel to the right. My first thought was that there was no way we could avoid the collision. I could feel the ABS pumping the brakes and slowing us. I heard my wife scream. I watched as the car passed by without hitting us. My joy was short lived as we were now heading toward the corner of the intersection and the light poles. But, we came to a stop short of the any collision. It was now very quiet, except for the pounding of my heart. It was hard to believe that we had not hit anything. After a brief moment, my thoughts turned to the bikes. I jumped out of the car and checked on them. They were fine; it would appear that they did not even know the peril that they had been in. I know that the bikes had been securely mounted to the roof rack. I do not know if the bikes would have been so securely mounted inside a van.
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