Marc Kitteringham
Its time.
You’ve noticed it, haven’t you? The days are getting longer. Time seems to be slowly slipping faster. A descent into something new. It always comes this time of year. You start to get itchy feet. You start to look to the horizon. You wonder: “whats beyond that?”
Its time.
As the snow melts, giving way to the soft muddy spring, the old friends get dusted off. Tires are filled again, mechs checked. You remember your seat height. You remember the feeling of drop bars, the silence of the tires as they skim across clean roads. The unbelievable lightness of the bike beneath you. It is dialled, you can feel it. The shifts are impeccable, the chain hops around like it is alive. Everything feels effortless after a winter of grinding through snow. You legs are stronger now, your technique has improved. You’re faster. You can go further. You want that horizon.
Its time.
The world is waking up. It has been a long night, cold, frozen and it’s been hell to get through. Things have happened. You’ve lost something, you’ve gained something else. You’re different. Things are different. Coming out of the winter, you’ve learned something about yourself. On those long early morning rides you reflect. This is your therapy. The climb makes you focus on your legs. You feel the burn in your thighs, it spurs you onward. Faster. Closer.
It has been a hard winter, you need this. You need the reminder of what it is like to feel alive. You need the cold spring air at the back of your throat, you need the fire of the climb in your legs, the rasp of your breath, the numbness of your hands in the wind. On the stretches you can think. You can make plans. You realize that you are still a good person. You are a better person. You will be better. you will make people happy, and you will make yourself happy. As you pedal, you look up. The sun is just beginning to rise above the horizon – your goal. Everybody deserves this. There is a special kind of self reflection that can only come in the early hours miles away from any town.
Picture yourself on your bike, cresting a hill and suddenly the world opens up before you. In the distance is the blaze of the sun, painting the sky with shades of yellow, pink, purple and finally blue. You realize that, for the most part, life is hard. It comes hard and it does not play nice. It lets good people down and it doesn’t care. It is up to you to make it worth it. Now picture yourself looking over your shoulder at your riding partner. You’ve made this trek together. You’ve both climbed the hills, left each other to silent reflection on the lessons of the harsh winter and now you’ve both faced the world telling you that it is going to be ok. Things are going to be ok.
Its time.
The world is waking up.