Catching up

Sometimes you meet up with some one you haven't seen in a long time, and it seems like it was only yesterday that you last saw them.

So it was this past weekend, meeting up with Shane.

My daughter-the-elder is beginning her college search, being a high school junior, and Whitworth University (Spokane, WA) was holding their "Pirate Preview" weekend May 6-7. One of my old riding and racing friends also lives in Spokane, and so I contacted him for a riding route suggestion. He did far better -- he invited me to his house, just a few minutes from the university, for a ride together.

I showed up at about 5 pm, and after the handshake-hug, re-introductions and such, readied quickly and we were off to his guided tour of the Spokane River.

Dropping back into the valley, we hit a horrendous headwind, and my thoughts went toward "this could really suck". But we got to a more protected area and the wind settled down some.

Talk ranged over reminiscing on past rides and races, family, moves, careers, injuries, aging, and a lot of talk of spiritual things. Life views, parenting, past mistakes... Catching up, to where it was like no time had passed since we last rode together. But we did the math, and figured out that 24 years have gone by. Neither of us had children at the time, and now we've goth got girls in late high school, and he has one late in college.

The route along the Spokane River wound around quiet roads and walking/cycling paths, through a pine forest. Rolling hills throughout made for difficulty finding a rhythm, but also made for a challenging ride. Several deer, a few geese, and my first-ever wild turkey sighting.


At the dam, the spillway was flowing deep and fast, the river swollen from the months of rain. We stopped for photos, then got back on for the return ride on the opposite side of the river.

Shane is a really strong rider. Always has been. I tell him that he's always been able to ride away from me at will, and it's still true. Especially late in the ride when the long morning drive was catching up to me that I found myself truly trying to catch up with him on the hills. Yes, I did drop my chain twice, and that did force a stop, but that wasn't really why I was flagging. I was glad that he'd had a long and hard ride the day before.


We ended the ride just shy of two hours, my fastest ride this year (and I think last year as well). We sat for a while, more conversation. Brothers from another family, seemingly.


Catching up, in so many ways. May it not be so long til the next time.