Ireland Part 3: Best Ride Day. No, Really!

Posted on August 27, 2021 by Jan C. Johnson

Thanks for your patience with Parts 1 and 2.
At last, I’m done philosophizing and ready to jump into the actual cycling aspect of the, um, cycling tour.

Here I am with fellow cyclist Julia and our wonderful Ciclismo Classico guide Enrico.

The first few rides in Ireland proved pretty challenging, what with some long uphill grades that pitched steeper and steeper as I climbed. Yep, I ended up walking a good bit. I may have felt a tad demoralized at times.

The scenery was worth the effort, though. And every day brought new adventure and offbeat rest stops. From museums to a seaweed education center to castles to pubs, we never knew quite what to expect. Even the warmup ride on the first day included a stop at Charlesfort, a rugged bastion on the coast near Kinsale. It’s said to be haunted by the ghost of a bereaved military bride.

But the very, very best day of all was the ride from the village of Ballylicky, over the pass of Borlin and into the city of Killarney. It presented these interesting features:

  • Total distance 40 miles, the longest distance I rode all week;
  • The longest climb of the tour… possibly my longest climb ever;
  • That one convenience store where we stopped? No working restrooms;
  • A badly understaffed lunch restaurant. Getting our food took three eternities;
  • The worst weather / hardest rain of the tour as we approached Killarney, leading to…
  • My sunglasses and GPS screen got so wet I couldn’t follow the nav, and ended up losing my way to the hotel.

“Wow,” I can hear you say. “Sounds like a fabulous day… in Opposite Land.”

Yeah, but we also enjoyed:

  • Peaceful roads winding among sheep and cow pastures
  • The uphill grades were gentle and rolling with breathtaking views around every bend
  • At the top of the pass, while at the one place wide enough to park the van for a snack stop, we were treated to the unprecedented sight of a “big rig” truck trying to thread its way along the winding, one-lane road.
    (It wasn’t going well. My guess is, the driver either blindly picked “shortest route” on his GPS, or he got directions from Dr. Seuss.)
  • Once we reached the top of the pass, the corresponding downhill was nearly perfect
  • Both uphill and down, plenty of time to stop for pictures
  • When we did get our lunch, it was delicious
  • Not one car ran over me, even in the rain (it’s the little things…)
  • I had a rain jacket so I wasn’t gonna melt, anyway
  • Once we got to Killarney, a fellow guest realized we’d missed a turn and helped me find the hotel
  • Never had a disheveled cyclist dripped so much water on such an elegant lobby floor
  • On a related note, I’ve never been so glad to step into a building in my life.
  • Sheep
  • Can you spot the rider
    waaay up ahead?
  • You can’t imagine the peaceful silence that blanketed the countryside.
Ooooops…

The road to Killarney gave us a day full of challenges to overcome, beauty to admire, and surprises that kept me guessing. As near as I can figure, that kind of day is always going to be a good day.

What about you? Do you find a challenging day more fun than an easy one? Are you okay with curveballs, or would you rather have everything planned in advance?

I love your comments! To join the conversation, please use the “Your Turn” box (or the “Leave a comment” link) below my bio, where I’ll be sure to see it and reply.

Thanks for reading!

Tailwinds,

Jan

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Ireland Part 2: Greetings!

Posted on August 13, 2021 by Jan C. Johnson

Last time, I wrote about our cycling tour in Ireland, and how a guy with a guitar and a cute dog helped me adapt to the metric system that’s used there. I’ll get to that whole “bicycle” and “tour” thing later, but right now I want to share an Irish custom that I embraced immediately–no math required!


The first day in Ireland, we got to the city of Cork and checked into our hotel. Because of indoor-dining restrictions, we couldn’t wander the streets and pick a local joint for dinner, unless we wanted to visit one of the food carts in the alley and eat outside. Let’s spoil ourselves a little, we decided, and made reservations for the hotel dining room.

After we were duly seated, the young man assigned to our table came along and greeted us with, “Welcome! And how are yourselves this evening?”

Hmm… “yourselves,” not “you” or “you guys.” What a charming turn of phrase!

I kind of wanted to adopt him.

Later, when another diner was leaving, did this same waiter send him off with a polite-but-boring “Have a nice evening?” No, he did not. He said, “Look after yourself, now!”

Why was I so captivated by being addressed as “yourself” instead of “you?” Here in the States, we most often use “yourself” or “myself” reflexively–that is, when the person both does the action, and is affected by the action. Example: “I cut myself while I was chopping vegetables.”
(I can neither confirm nor deny that I drew this example from real life.)

The phrase sounds different and therefore refreshing, but there’s more to it than that. There’s something about the word “yourself” that seems more caring, more individual. For me, the waiter’s greeting conveyed that he saw a whole person, not just some customer sitting at the table.

As near as I can figure, I found the expression meaningful because it seemed to incorporate the soul.

Yes, I’m overthinking. No, I’m sure Irish people don’t go around analyzing greetings for a soul connection. Yes, their expressions are likely as commonplace to them as our American ones are to me.

Still… what if I gave a little thought to speaking to people in a meaningful way? Don’t we have enough meaningless words floating around? Why not actually communicate?

So I’m going to “piggyback” off this charming custom, and try speaking to people in a way that lets them know I see and value them.

Without, you know, going all “Jane Eyre” or anything.

What about you? Do you hear yourself using worn-out “formula” greetings? Or replying “fine” … when you’re not? Ever want to shake things up with a real conversation?

I love your comments! To join the conversation, please use the “Your Turn” box (or the “Leave a comment” link) below my bio, where I’ll be sure to see it and reply.

Thanks for reading,

Jan

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The Thief of Blackfriars Lane, by Michelle Griep

Posted on August 11, 2021 by Jan C. Johnson

Normally, I avoid Victoria-era stories set in England. I expect them to be too depressingly Charles Dickens-ish. But this recent title by Michelle Griep caught my eye. Here’s the blurb from Amazon (the image is theirs, too):
“Constable Jackson Forge intends to make the world safer, or at least the streets of Victorian London. But that’s Kit Turner’s domain, a swindler who runs a crew that acquires money the old-fashioned way—conning the rich to give to the poor. When a local cab driver goes missing, Jackson is tasked with finding the man, and the only way to do that is by enlisting Kit’s help. If Jackson doesn’t find the cabby, he’ll be fired. If Kit doesn’t help Jackson, he’ll arrest her for thievery. Yet neither of them realize those are the least of their problems.”

This intriguing premise sucked me in, and I’m glad it did! Griep’s likeable characters came alive on the page. Their tale has plenty of suspense, mystery, honor, deceit, humor, spectacular failure, and danger. Plus a sneaking hint of romance that they certainly take their sweet time acknowledging. Maybe it’s the stress of not knowing whether they can trust each other.

Whether you usually like historical fiction or avoid it, I encourage you to give this Great Weekend Read a try.

Thanks for reading,

Jan

(c) 2021 by Jan C Johnson

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Ireland Part 1: “Learn the Dance”

Posted on August 6, 2021 by Jan C. Johnson

Last week, Brent and I enjoyed a fully-supported Ciclismo Classico bicycle tour in Ireland, more or less along the southwest coast. COVID restrictions in Ireland had lifted just in time for us to make the journey. I have a handful stories to share, but want to start with this one…

In Ireland, vehicles use the left side of the road, not the right as in the US. Currency is euros, not dollars. Distances are in kilometers, not miles. Temperatures are in Celsius, not Fahrenheit.

We had some adapting to do, all of which seemed to involve math. (That, and keeping your bike to the left so you don’t end up bloodying some unsuspecting driver’s fender.) Anyway, as much as I like math, this was a lot of processing. Especially converting miles to kilometers on the fly, while out riding. On what persisted in feeling like the wrong side of the road.

One evening, a pair of incredibly talented musicians delighted us with traditional Irish music. One introduced an Irish jig, explaining that the time signature (rhythm pattern) of the jig is 6/8. “Well,” he amended, “really a combination of 6/8 and 9/8.”

After they played the jig, one of the guests said he tried to follow that complex rhythm pattern, but couldn’t. The guitar player nodded wisely. “Ah,” he said, “ye just have to learn the dance, then it’ll make sense.”

That casual remark stayed with me. It occurred to me that when learning to do anything new, I tend to “math” my way along. Do the calculations. Analyze all the steps before trying any of them.

But what if I tried a different tack?

Instead of doggedly following the numbers, analyzing the pattern… what if I would jump in and “learn the dance?”

This could actually be more fun.

Where to start? Well… after the first day’s ride, I’d thought to set my Garmin to show distance and speed in metric, which allowed me to follow the route instructions calculation-free. That’s the spirit! I set my phone weather app to show Celsius.

Now I was on a roll. Instead of trying to figure out the nearest American equivalent of unfamiliar menu items, I started ordering the most outrageously Irish foods offered. “When am I gonna get another shot at this?” I asked.

Side note: there was nothing I actually didn’t like, not even fresh seaweed or “mushy peas.”

No, really.

We math-y types sometimes have a hard time going with the flow, but I found this shift in thinking freed me up to enjoy the trip in ways I otherwise wouldn’t have.

All I had to do was let the math take care of itself, and just learn the dance.

What about you? Do you math? Is overthinking your superpower, too? Do you give yourself “analysis paralysis?” I’d love to hear your thoughts in the “Your Turn…” box below the post.

Thanks for reading,

Jan

(c) 2021 Jan C. Johnson

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A Day of Gifts

Posted on July 12, 2021 by Jan C. Johnson

Hometown. There’s nothing like a visit “home” to pull you back from your current busy life and let you relax with a bit of nostalgia. A day in Palestine earlier in the spring did just that for me. Not only that, but I received a whole series of gifts. It wasn’t even my birthday or anything, which made the experience that much more meaningful to me.

First, I met my high school classmate Donna at a new little place called Crepes and Coffee. Though I always liked and admired Donna, we were never really “social friends” in our student days. Now that we’ve both lived a great deal of life and become reconnected, we’ve formed a real bond. Her enthusiasm for my travel and my current project warmed my heart. And she shared more of her story with me, upping my admiration for her even more!

Besides the lovely time together, she surprised me with a beautiful mirror compact (in my favorite colors and style, no less). She explained that for her, such a compact has come to symbolize friendship.

And she even bought my breakfast!

Next, I went to the art gallery on the first floor of the historic Redlands Hotel downtown. I met artist David Tripp there four years ago, and he now owns the gallery. A dozen artists have their works there. It’s always fun to browse the original paintings, smaller prints, sculptures, and works in progress… but I admit my favorites are always David’s nostalgic watercolors.

Since my visit fell during the Dogwood Festival, David had some goodies for his friends who stopped by. One of these was a poem about the artists who share the gallery. I enjoyed the poem, but the gift I really geeked out about was this Blackwing Matte pencil. It draws a nice dark line, yet holds its point well. The thing is, it’s the same kind of pencil John Steinbeck used to draft his novels. It’s now made by a different company, but still… the association inspires my work.
David wasn’t done yet. His best gift of all to me? His words. He’s writing and illustrating a book of stories. He told me he’d considered the project for some time, and finally went for it thanks to the influence of three people. I forget the first, the second was Larry McMurtry, and the third… was me. What?? Such an unexpected honor to have a place in David’s story.

I had some downtime in the afternoon, so I took my journal and new pencil to Davey Dogwood Park. I needed to process this unusual day a bit. Even in cloudy and somewhat threatening weather, the heavily wooded park welcomed me with its peaceful atmosphere. I wrote out my thoughts on the day so far, then went to meet old friends for dinner…

… We got to know Gordon and Amy ages ago, when we first moved to the Dallas area. He was the music minister at the church we joined, and Amy and I sang alto together in the choir. Gordon has a quirky sense of humor, so when he first told me he’d taken a position at a church in Palestine, I flat-out didn’t believe him. But it turned out to be true. We visited for a while at their home, then they treated me to dinner at the Pint and Barrel Drafthouse. The day ended with Amy’s yummy homemade dessert back at their house.

Food, mementos, symbolic gifts, more food… encouraging words and, most importantly, time spent together with people I care about. The whole day was a gift.

And the best gift of all is my friends.

May I be a good friend to those in my life.

Thanks for reading,

Jan

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Cyclist’s Prayer

Posted on May 15, 2021 by Jan C. Johnson

(c) 2021 Jan C. Johnson

Lord, I’m setting out to ride.
Go with me and be my guide.
Keep me safe from angry dogs,
Poison snakes and feral hogs,

Yellowjacket on my shades,
Gravel up the steepest grades,
Headwinds and torrential rains,
Roadways blocked by poky trains,

Traffic in the neighborhoods,
Sasquatch in the deep back woods,
Drivers texting (how insane!),
Dually pickups in my lane,

Guinea hens that run afoul,
Rednecks passing with a growl,
Sunburn, potholes, cows that roam…
Maybe I should just stay home.

… Naaah.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I love whoever put this up.
3,000 cars… at 8 mph…
These cows were NOT in the road!

Yes, I’ve actually seen / experienced pretty much every one of the items listed. The feral hog was road kill that I passed years ago. To this day, whenever I ride that road I look for escape options, just in case. But I really did have a yellowjacket stow away on my sunglasses. When I tried to flick it off with my safely gloved hand, it fell on my arm, stinger-first.

And yes, I often do pray for safety when I start a ride. Last time I did, my requests got so specific that I laughed at myself and started composing this poem in my head. I threw in everything I could think of.

But you know… if I let every potential obstacle or hazard stop me, I’d never do anything. Hence the poem’s last, short line.

Thanks for reading!

Tailwinds,

Jan

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