Noah Dropoff to Idlewild CG Day 1
Drop off
Waking at 5:30 I stumble into Noah's kitchen and make coffee and breakfast on his stove with my camp pot.
Sipping on coffee I recall yesterday's conversation and pat myself on the back for resisting the urge to give advice when Noah shared about fishing serves him to keep busy. I know in my own life I'm learning to Do Nothing and also I'm glad that when talking to Noah I simply heard him and got to hear about the type of focus he loves in the act of pulling the lure.
On the drive up the grade, conversation centers around Noah's work and I'm struck as I often am by his drive and long term planning. I had very low elements of either of those at his age.
As we start up the grade, our talk turns toward Noah's dreams of a cabin in the woods, we pass some lovely cabins and speculate about how they get electricity.
While helping me unload gear from the car, Noat notices the business cards he gave me still loose in my helmet.
"I can take those back for now and give them to youafter your trip, Dad, if you don't have a place to pack them," says Noah.
"No need, I can put them in my wallet which is...right...oh dear...the wallet is back at your house in the car,," I groan.
Drop off Take 2
We pack it all back up again and drive to whence we came, and have a most wondrous conversation about Shame and Punishment. Noah shares the story of his "disaster" fishing trip when he dropped his phone and popped his boat and resisted the urge to give in to frustration and instead chose to fish anyway. He then proceeded to catch a fish and find his phone.
I take the moral of Noah's story to beart and allow myself to enjoy an extra hour of time with him as we retrieve the wallet. Near the end, I finally overcome my shyness and tell him about picklepartysalon.com and when I mention how frightened I am to post, he says, "Why?" The tone of his voice sound incredulous, uncomprehending. Like he cannot conceive of any reason I would hesitate to share my creative.
Oh what a gift! Gratitude for Noah. Thanksgiving for all my wrong moves.
Across Scott Valley
Descending into the Scott Valley is an experience of increasing gradeur. Each valley appears as a gem resting far below. As I pedal down, the the gem opens then reveals another valley below. The valleys range from fields of waist high alfalfa to meadows filled with flowers of yellow an purple to dry crew cut earth. Each step down each valley swallows me more entirely, until the fast expanse of scott valley opens before me, and I begin my ant slow traverse across the flat lowlands up to Etna.
Etna Creek & Summit
On the first side road leading to the creek, I pull over as planned and stop for siesta. Siesta stars with drinking water for 30 minutes followed by wading and stepping over rocks in the river. Eventually lunch of oily hummus and sunflower seeds on bagel. Followed by sitting and more wading. At one point a young man with a dog walks to the river's edge. I ask him whether it has cooled off up on the road and he says it's not bad, maybe 85 degrees. I watch him soak his shirt in the frigid river and put it back on and decide it's still too hot for me.
The climb up to the Etna pass felt much faster and easier than two years ago. I feel so much stronger and calmer as I grind up the grade.
Back at home I plot the two years' profiles, and find that "faster" is not easy to judge. In 2019 I made it to the top in less elapsed time. In 2021 my long break was longer, but I took fewer short breaks.
2019 Etna Pass Profile
2021 Etna Pass Profile
Did I ride faster or slower this year? The answer is "yes"