On a spring day in Memphis, I went on a spiritual road ride out to Shelby forest. The day was warm but the clouds were menacing. You could smell the rain on the air, that sweet fresh spring rain and the cool wind swelling and pushing a moving system. That was always a hard ride twenty miles out north-west into a head wind. If you felt plucky once you reached the forest preserve you could ride through a series of tough rollers in the dense old growth. Always thickly humid under the canopy of elms, oaks, and cypress. I can't remember if I worked the rollers on that afternoon, but I was feeling good so I must have.Twenty miles back into town was always a nice spin. Flat rural highway, tail wind, a chance to let the legs recover and enjoy a good speed. I was chasing the clouds, the temperature was dropping, and I knew the rain was coming.The highway hits Summer Avenue where I make a right turn towards midtown. Summer Avenue once was the main commercial drag of Memphis, but those days have long since passed. Today it is filled with automotive shops, BBQ joints, dollar stores and the famous Paris Adult Theatre.It was close to rush hour and the afternoon clouds could hold their burden no longer. As the first heavy drops hit I zipped up my jersey. Summer Avenue was thick with traffic and the roads were swelling with runoff. Cars slowed down; I sped up. The rain was cold hitting my back and thighs but my body heat from the 35 miles before acted as a shield. It was a great sensation the cold, my heat; I could envision the steam rising off my back and out of the top of my head.I crested the top of an overpass at the end of Summer Avenue where it turns into North Parkway. I was only a couple of miles from home now. I was soaked from the driving rain and big pellets of water. My heat shield was holding strong, I felt powerful. I stopped at the top of the overpass, to soak in the joy of the moment. Cars inching by in the dense traffic windshield wipers set to maxium. The air was so clean; my body was strong, fatigued, and electric. It was in that moment that I was as close to enlightenment as I have ever been.
This profile was edited with Myspace Layout Code Editor
