Is Altered Reality Still Reality?

Yesterday, with some of my distribution of the team winnings from the Tour of Walla Walla, I treated myself to an almost 2-hour long massage under the magical hands of Angela. She had me start face down, and as we progressed, with my deep breaths in and out through my mouth, my nose became more and more plugged up. Allergies? Perhaps. Turn over, face up. Continue. Breathe. In, out. Through the mouth. Deep sighing breaths. Feeling amazing. Almost falling asleep. So relaxed and rejuvenated.

After we finish, I sit up, stand, reach for my clothes - and realize my ears are plugged. But not really plugged. More...altered. It's not the plugged ears you experience when you're flying or climbing up a mountain, where everything is just muffled until they "pop". This altered my hearing in the strangest way, making it sound like Angela was speaking to me from inside a deep cavern. And I could hear my clothes make sounds against their own wrinkles and against my skin as I put them back on. Sounds I've never heard before - hardly even realized they were there.

After being upright for another few minutes, my hearing returned to normal. But as I drove away in my car, taking big swigs from my water bottle, I pondered what had happened. Because I knew that what I had heard with my altered hearing, I was actually hearing. I wasn't making it up, and it wasn't me going crazy (or at least I'm pretty sure of that). I was actually hearing my clothes. And I was actually hearing Angela's voice echo in my ear canal. And I was actually hearing my own breath from inside my body.

This event makes me question reality even more than I have been lately. Are there really many versions of reality? What I see and hear and smell and touch and taste every day must truly be just one of many possible ways to interpret my experiences.

This afternoon I'm planning on attending an art exhibit of a friend's sister, Margot Quan Knight, at the James Harris Gallery in Seattle. The title of the exhibition is "Mirror, Mirror," and I expect there to be some pondering of reality while I'm there, too.

Enjoy your weekends, everyone - whichever forms of reality they decide to take.

Intermezzo

For a wrap-up of last weekend's race, hop on over to my team's blog. It's a pretty good summary of how everything went down, and panned out.

As we drove into Walla Walla on the first day of the race, I found myself thinking, Man, wouldn't it be nice to hang out here for a while after the race is over and just ride, drink wine and chill? Then I realized - I was already planning on doing that! Perfect. So on Sunday, instead of heading back to Seattle, my job and real life, I spent 3 extra days in beautiful Walla Walla with my teammate Cheryl, a Walla Walla native, before heading down to the next weekend's stage race, the Cherry Blossom Cycling Classic. I kicked off the week by partying Sunday night with the Whitman cycling team, then proceeded to ride every day, enjoy the perfect weather and even watch a sweet documentary about human towers, with live Q & A hosted by an actual participant.

But my favorite memory from the week?

Tasting some local wine with Sam & Cheryl, then meeting up with Timbah for the best sauna experience I've ever had, grabbing Walla Walla sweet onion burritos at La Monarca, and polishing them off sitting on the edge of the quad on Whitman campus, watching intramural ultimate frisbee. I'm not kidding about the sauna, either - there was something almost transcendent about it - is that possible?

The next morning, we headed down to The Dalles, Oregon, after stopping at Andy's for some local, inexpensive asparagus and sweet onions. The amazing drive is mostly spent right along the Columbia River, and we were treated to fantastic views of the valley, green hills, rock formations, Mt. Hood, incredibly long and colorful trains and of course the river itself. We also passed one of those tree farms - the ones that are almost hypnotizing with their rows and rows of trees that if you look down the rows to the end, appear like stop-motion photos that barely seem real. There's also something satisfying about the fact that these farms help alleviate clear-cutting of forests.

Once we made it into town, we joined Lang, Phil and Kennet for a quick recon ride of the Stage 2 circuit race course - a great way to shake off the 3-hour drive and stresses of traveling, and enjoy the beautiful weather.

This is the life. Now to figure out how to live like this all the time...suggestions?

Clean and Ready

I've washed away
the pain of today;
it's flowed down the drain,
and out with the rain.

I know that I'm strong,
that tomorrow is long.
We'll do what we can,
we have a good plan.

And in the end,
with positions to defend,
we will finish the race
at the fastest of pace.

KR in WW

So here we are, the Keller Rohrback team, in the grand old city of Walla Walla, Washington. The 3-day, 4-stage race began yesterday with a late afternoon/early evening, 37-mile road race out of Waitsburg. This race is notorious for severe winds that explode the pack to pieces. Well, yesterday was certainly windy, but no one really seemed up for anything big, so the few attacks that went off (from our team, and maybe 1 or 2 others) didn't last, and the pace was relatively calm. Things split up over the QOM climb, and I ended up having to chase back on (as did quite a few other people), but there were 37 pack finishers out of a field of 49 starters. I was pleased to finish with the peloton, but even MORE pleased that Cheryl pulled off the sprint and took FIRST! Go, Cheryl! TB and Kele lined it up for her, but it started to get pretty crowded at the front, and Cheryl knew just how to maneuver to cross the line ahead. Fantastic!

This morning we raced the 9.3-mile time trial. Slight winds, a climb in the middle, and a lot of descending afterwards keep this an interesting course, with a fast finish. I worked as hard as I felt I could, and bettered my time from last year. My teammates managed to all nab spots within the top 10 (TB 2nd, Cheryl 4th, and Kele 10th?) to potentially take the lead for Team GC. We'll find out for sure when we head downtown for the crit in a few short hours.

In the meantime, our amazing hosts Shannon and Doug (Cheryl's sister and brother-in-law) have cooked up some amazing barbecue fare - grilled chicken, homemade rolls with homemade raspberry and strawberry jam, caesar salad, pasta salad, potato salad, strawberry lemonade and of course dessert. Can you say YUM?

Poem-A-Day, April 12th

Black Rock City

a place made of dreams,
of fire and flood - and of art
to be created.

almost mythical,
but a known, real oasis
(temporarily).

so much there to learn,
so much to be discovered,
so anxious to go.

Poem-A-Day, April 11th

The Last Pedal Stroke

sometimes it's thrown down
with such force
with such brutality
as the bike
and rider
charge across the line

sometimes it's taken
with ease and confidence
simple sureness of victory
no fear
no contest

sometimes it's given up
with feelings of defeat
like today
today was just
not
my
day

Poem-A-Day, April 7th

Yes, I skipped April 6th. My excuse is that I should write about art that moves me to write about it, not some piece that was thrown in front of me blindly. Is that fair? Maybe not, but I'll write what I want.

Today's prompt: Take the phrase "Until (blank)," replace the blank with a word or phrase, make the new phrase the title of your poem, and write the poem.

----------

Until August

like clockwork
it has become
a time for change,
for new beginnings.

i've never been
a patient one.
always wanted
immediacy.

so this time
i'm starting fresh,
with a new me,
self-discovery.

time to plan
or not to plan?
to see where life
is taking me next.

Poem-A-Day, April 5th

TMI

Woke up this morning:
Explosive diarrhea.
No team ride for me.

Poem-A-Day, April 4th

Write a history poem.

---------

Heastery

i still remember
five-four-five
shallow cove road,
the house of my early
childhood.
easter morning
bright and sunny
dress in fresh clothes
from grandma W.
come down the stairs
to find the baskets
already overflowing
with chocolate
(which i loved)
and jelly beans
(which i gave
to my brother).
then hunt for eggs,
candy-filled
and hard-boiled,
and eat to our hearts'
content.
i try to recreate
this memory
but nothing,
even family,
can make me
a 6-year-old
again.

Poem-A-Day, April 3rd

Today's prompt: "...take the phrase 'Partly (blank),' replace the blank with a word or phrase, make that the title of your poem, and then write the poem."

----------

Partly Toast

Man, my legs are
toast today
after a week's worth
of hard training.
Although,
we sure got
toasted last night -
maybe that
has something to do
with it.
But at least
my feet
are pretty toasty
in these booties.
And I sure do like
that multi-grain toast
I had for breakfast.

Poem-A-Day, April 2nd

At the suggestion of my poet friend Joannie, I've decided to attempt to participate in Robert Lee Brewer's Poem-A-Day challenge. Of course, I'm starting a day late (April is National Poetry Month), and I have no expectations whatsoever, but I think it will be a fun exercise nonetheless. Maybe I'll attempt to keep all the poems related to cycling, in addition to adhering to the daily prompt. Maybe not. I guess we'll just have to see how it goes...

Today's prompt: Write a water poem.

----------

The rain cascades down rooftops,
And pounds the sides of cars;
The gusts predicted heavy,
By our forecaster Lars.

"I won't be riding bikes today,
Nor swimming in the Sound.
The weather's just too nasty out,"
She muttered as she frowned.

So hopefully tomorrow
The sun will dry the streets.
This lion is not welcome here,
The lamb brings better treats.