Intro

Welcome to a story, or stories I should say. A compilation of adventure tales. An ongoing itch to see, smell, and touch the world, or at least the deserted roads and rarely trampled mountains of America. Characters within the descriptive paragraphs of these stories carve out the coming and going companions in life; vital life people and pieces that parallel a universe for moments, days, years. And then spear off, leaving granules of magnificent memories of magical places. They leave a lasting trace, a gained sense of courage to stand tall on oxygen deprived mountains and shout absurdities like: I love you Ralph! Ralph is a teenage reindeer stuffed of the finest synthetic polyester fiber poof; he says made in Indonesia but really tells me he is from the North Pole. Delivered through a chimney one December night 20 years ago, we instantly became cuddle buddies upon that morning's sunrise. He is the instigator. The inspiration. And the imagination. He breathes creativity. Laughter. His is a dear companion. And yes, at 4lbs he tags along atop a pack or strapped to a rack. In delirium of 107 degree heat, the small possession of material belongings gain a persona. Innate objects become friends of the road and trails. And as for the humans who accompany, their presence reads priceless. Without O'Reilly, a 29 year old New Hampshirian with superior taste buds, the mathematical six foot four inch tall German, or handful of organic peanut butter and 99 cent jam eating munchkins, there would be a lot less excitement. The encounters we make with our specie, encapsulating the world with their awkward ways and over consumerist love, somehow we have managed to become overly adored creatures. Their generous hearts restore a faith that goodness prevails in the upheaval of a sometimes lost humanity. As for myself, I'm just the navigator, paddling up the stream of life munching on Clif Bars, with an iPhone documenting the frailties and goodies underneath all the simplified complexities in the world we reside. So again, I welcome you to get lost and dream a little through this typed text and your imagination. My name is Kristen Gentilucci. I live in Berkeley California and I love dogs.


Saturday, August 11, 2012

Day 54. Sedona

Miles: 94
Weather: 111 degrees in the pit of camp Verde
Elevation gain: 4500

We play this game, it's called would you rather. The question of the day was: would you rather ride in 111 degree weather at 3500 feet, or 7500ft with hills and a temperate 80 knowing an 80 miles is to come still?

It started out, one of those days not your flavor. 8 weeks in, it hit me, we are almost done and as much as I love my new born family of 32, I am almost ready to re enter the world and do more than just Bike and Build. Ready to have the time to read the news again, or more than one sentence of a book without falling asleep, and shower with a real fluffy fill size towel. I think every muscle ached today, and with that at 7am we climbed from 3500ft to an air gasping 7500 ft in a short straight up of 20 miles. Yes, one of those days when you dig into your soul to find some strength to not give up, call the van and pretend you have altitude sickness. I think I dug all the way to my stomach, but I found some willpower to not give up there.

The only thing that kept me going was team Flower Power, strapped with our book pointing out Arizona wildflowers. Our team of 4 stopped at reds, yellows, whites, pinks, an oranges. You see what you want to see, in life, in people, and in the millions of wildflowers alongside the right white line. Our updates to riders by were knowledgable facts on the importance of warmth for shoes from the leaves of these fiddler flowers as well as the Fire Pinwheels and use of the Silverleaf Nightshade to curdle milk in making cheese.

The nearly 16 miles down the back side of the mountain at mile 40 gave me a boost, descending down to normal breathing levels. Unfortunately, the giant mountain in the near distance erupted curse words from my mouth knowing what goes down 3000ft in a mere 15 minutes goes back up in hours. To top this all we not only hit a brake like headwind veering down the mountain, but also a cloud of fire, a death pit of heat that rose to 111 degrees in the valley below.

I chose the former, I'll take oxygenated air any day with any temperature. Finally, my bike and this lay of the land could be friends for the day. After a free vanilla ice cream that melted before I could get 5 licks, I was refueled with a sugar rush and ready to beat this day. Coming into Sedona, let's just say add it to your life long list of things to see. Despite the yuppy Disneylandic scene beneath the canyon walls, it is one of those experiences, shrinking down to the size of an ant, the red stripped colored hills, majestic it could 1/2 be called, where the words from your mouth and the tiredness from your legs disappears. Suddenly the earth becomes alive, and we are simple tiny moving specks in relation.

Lying awake tucked in my sleeping bag under the starry night filled with meteors, wild bores oinking their vicious grunts run through the church parking lot, and off I run to sleep on the carpet of Red Rock Community Church under a ceiling of white drywall.