I've Got A Bike & A Plane Ticket
...What more could a girl ask for?
24.02.2014 - 24.02.2014
45 °F
A brief summary of winter....
A brief summary of winter....
"It's only December....plenty of time"
"It's still just January, so early in the season"
"We're only at the beginning of February....still plenty of time"
"HOLY SHIT IT'S THE END OF FEBRUARY......
T-MINUS 5 DAYS"
It's wild how fast time flies. Every now and again I'll get all nostalgic about how much has happened, or how much has changed over X amount of time. It is something that just continuously blows my mind. That being said, I'm getting prepped for the first (and second) race of the 2014 season this upcoming weekend. (2014!?! What?!) This one kicks it all off. Clermont EDR is a good benchmark for me. It's a course I've done twice before, it's fiercely competitive and it gets me in a mind-space ready to crush people for all the races yet to come. This years race strategy is quite a bit different that last year and I'm feeling fired up to do some work.
But, Today We Take A Flash To The Past.
Let's rewind 10 years....ages 14-21? This period of my life my bestie Jess and I were river rats. We'd spend 4, 5, 6, days on the river, paddling hard, playing big, eating PB and J in an eddy while we fantasized about new rivers, waterfalls and well....of course the whitewater boys. 
I still find some pride in not having a single 5 -day week of school my entire senior year....something about getting lots of rain, or having a big snow melt that seemed to result in a lot of 'doctor appointments' Jess and I would be off, fearlessly scouting some new section of the New Boston, dancing bluegrass in West Virginia after a day on the Cheat, hucking of an 18-footer in Maine, or just playing hard at the local play hole.
Some mornings weren't so easy....pounding headaches have a certain way of complicating thule straps.
But we would make it to the river, stay until it got dark....or a little bit after that because our "one more rides" just kept happening
Boating Was Life.
Now, this next chapter.
Same passion. Same hunger. Same fulfillment.
(Only a lot more work and a lot less tequila)
Quote of the moment:
Anyone you have danced in the rain with....are true friends. Keepers.
(*If you've done it in underwear, sober, on the side of the river....you'll be friends until nursing home status, where you will, of course, relentlessly harass the cute male nurses)
Countdown: 4 1/2 days. What?!?!
Here's to peace, flashing back and pedaling forward,
Aubrey
Posted by AubreyJ 19:41 Archived in USA Tagged kayaking tequila training competition whitewater paddling dreams triathlon best_friends growing_up agers_falls race_day Comments (1)
