Well it wasn't super early, but early enough for this time of year. "6 A" is what you would say the night before when finalizing the plans, as in, "See ya at 6 A". So we set off on a nice early morning ramble up the Wenatchee Valley to Leavenworth and back, taking every side road, loop, hill and extension we could think of. A beautiful morning featuring a stop for coffee and toe warming at the half way point, and great views the whole way.
Two years ago this would have been a 4 am. ride. I guess we were a bit younger, and maybe a bit tougher back then, because 4 am. sounds kind of ridiculous right now. Maybe it was just plain stupid. Why did we do that, and what could possibly be fun about riding at that time of the morning? Well, just the fact that nobody else is doing it is one reason. Men in particular like to tell people about what they did, especially if it might elicit a reaction like "wow, you're, uh, stupid".
What other reasons could possibly exist to heed the beep..beep..beep of the alarm at 2:59 am. instead of hitting the snooze button? How about just life? Work, kids, chores, deadlines, work, family, work, housework, yardwork, work work work and then more kids. The reality of a 4 am. ride is that you have this big block of time to yourself that you cannot have any other time of day, at least if you have a family and a job. But this still doesn't explain why 4 am., why outside on a bike when it's cold, why 6 hours or a 100 miles?
I think that above anything else, it's the sense of adventure that comes with an effort like this. When you climb a big mountain, you do an 'alpine start'. That means you start at 0-dark-thirty
in order to get up the glacier on firm snow before the sun comes out. That makes alpine climbing a huge adventure...breakfast at midnight, headlamps, stars and moon, hidden crevasses. Doing anything at night is vastly different than doing it during the day. We don't have enough adventure in our day to day lives, and this is a simple way to get some. How many people can be home by 10 am. on a Saturday and say they have had an epic day already?
This coming Saturday marks the return of the 4 am. ride. The temps should be in the low 30's to start, and the tentative route is a mix of pavement and dirt roads that will take us through sagebrush country, farm country, rugged dirt roads through basalt cliffs, and eventually back home. There is no water on route, no stores, no coffee. No nice little warm cafe to snuggle up with a triple Americano, room for cream please. Nothing but frost, cold pockets of thick early morning air, and beautiful views. No cars either. Nice. Better pack a few peanut butter and honey sandwiches on toast, wrapped in a paper lunch sack. Sounds like an adventure.
