Any Distance

Everybody’s favorite bicycling advocate, Kent Peterson is a legend to me for lots of reasons: having a car-free family for a number of years, riding a fixed gear from Seattle to Minnesota, being able to complete two-day randonneur rides subsisting entirely on salted nut rolls and Dr. Pepper (or something like that, maybe Slim Jims were involved too, hence his signature claim, “Not Not a nutritional role model”), but I think mostly for his reminder, which I thought you could also buy as a t-shirt or coffee mug, “Any distance is cycling distance.”

Kent’s point, as least as I understand it, is that your bike can get you pretty much anywhere, provided you have the time and the willingness to take breaks, rest stops, and other pauses for sustenance and reflection en route.

And I was reminded of that as I made my way home last night in a fairly persistent drizzle that may have defeated me on numerous occasions had I not stopped several times to dry off, warm up, and fill my belly with food and drink as needed.

I set out from school at the end of a long and emotionally draining day of balancing hiring meetings and teaching and after a trailside safety meeting followed by a few miles of slogging on through the wet, was all but ready to give it up for the relative comfort of Sound Transit.

Instead, though, I pulled off into Matthews Beach park, pulled on more raingear, and relaxed at a picnic table for a spell. Afterwards, I felt perfectly capable of the short trip to the College Inn Pub, where a beer, a fire, and a bit of reading gave me the strength to make it another few miles crosstown to the Elysian, and another pint with an order of fries.

Thus fortified, it was an easy glide home; instead of a 20 mile haul, just an easy series of 5 to 10 milers all the way.