I recently did a ~50 mile loop from the house. Originally my plan was that I
would do it in the morning, and eat lunch when it was over. But there was a
relatively strong headwind the first 10 miles or so, and it was raining for
much of the time, which always slows me down. By the time I was 30 miles
into the ride, it was later than I would have liked, and I was ravenous.
The next section of the ride was on the Issaquah-Hobart Road. The I-H Road
has a bad rep among cyclists because it has a high speed limit, a fair bit
of traffic, and a "variable" shoulder. But the nice part about the I-H Road
is that it is just a bit downhilly. Not so downhilly that you coast; just
downhilly enough that you cruise somewhat effortlessly, pedalling away, at
about 5 - 10 mph above your normal cruise speed. So I took the I-H Road.
Unfortunately, while on this road, it decided to absolutely pour. Not just
sprinkle, or lightly rain, as it had been for most of the ride. No, pounding
hard, drenching rain.
My sustaining thought while flying down the I-H Road in this downpour was of
the Shanghai Restaurant, about 10 miles away. I realized that it was just a
block or two off of my planned route. And the Shanghai is one of my favorite
Chinese restaurants in the greater Seattle area. I would cope with traffic,
with the [censored] on the shoulder, with the shoulder suddenly disappearing, with
the pounding rain, with water streaming into my eyes and obscuring my
glasses, because I would have lunch at the Shanghai.
I tied up the bike in the Shanghai parking lot, and stepped into the lobby.
They looked a bit askance at me, and I realized that I was spattered with
mud, dripping in their entry way, and dressed in full bikie gear. But
politeness took over, and they seated me.
It took, I don't know, 50 or 60 million years for the waiter to take my
order. But finally, he did. And then he brought the rice and Szechuan
chicken with garlic sauce that I ordered. Oh god! It was ambrosial! I
thought I'd die a thousand deaths right there, just to have this lovely,
lovely hot food, a mix of spicy, savory, and a tiny bit sweet. The first
third felt like it was being burned off inside my body almost on contact;
the second third felt like it was restorative; the final third felt
satisfying. It was just hot enough, in terms of temperature, that it didn't
burn the tongue, but just barely beneath that hot, such that it felt
completely warming. I was afraid of getting chilly, with no longer moving
and being so wet, but the food and tea was so hot, I stayed plenty warm.
It's amazing to me, how great food can be on a ride like this. Sometimes
even a bottle of gatorade and a bag of chips from a convenience store can be
almost miraculous.
The last 10 miles home, even though mostly uphill, were easy after that.
--
Warm Regards,
Claire Petersky
http://www.bicyclemeditations.org/
See the books I've set free at: http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky