Why I love rolling SAG with my team

The gorgeous rose-pink hill country sunrise is just appearing in the distance on this early morning launch of a recent training ride for Team Austin Cycle Camp

(*Or more properly titled: Why the #*!! I got up at 6AM on the only day this week I wasn’t working.)

For someone who has been sidelined by illness from the one fitness passion in her life for several weeks, the idea of getting up before dawn anyway on a Sunday after a grueling 6-day work week under a tight deadline probably doesn’t make much sense.

But then that’s how many passions are.  Illogical.  Crazy.  Driven by some inner sense of following an unexplainable physical need with action.

Feeling bummed that I can’t bike for a while just weeks after finding an amazing cycling culture and sense of community in Austin, I recently stumbled upon a new calling:  SAG Chick.  (That’s a provider of “support and gear” for you non-cyclers.)

I don’t know why, unless it’s one of those body memory things, but every time I get up before dawn to meet my cycling buddies for a ride there is an aura of holiness and reverence about the experience.  The feeling of arising with a sense of purpose when most of the rest of the world is asleep is luscious to me.

It reminds me of school band performances at far away locations when busloads of band mates and I arrived at our early morning point of departure with rollers in our hair and excitement in the air.  Or the pre-dawn drives back to college in time for class after an impromptu road trip the night before that was probably a crazy idea but indulged in anyway.

And that moment when the SUV is fully loaded with tools, sports bars and coolers of ice water; my team is off in a trail of dust to backroads unknown; and I know a Starbucks is finally open I have a few blissful moments to myself.

Complete and utter “me time.”

So the kids are back home snuggled in their beds and won’t miss me for hours.  The sun is rising up over the limestone hills surrounding Austin.  And I’m alone in the middle of nowhere with my maps and GPS and hot coffee instead of my weekday morning herb tea.  There’s something really indulgent about that one coffee of the week full of stuff that’s horrible for me!  I think it just thickens the feeling of specialness to the whole experience.

So is this the answer to why I love being the SAG Chick for Team Austin Cycle Camp?  Not even close.

My first published iPhone photo! A non-descript SAG station location in the middle of Nowheresville, Texas.

It hit me today when I was in the dingy parking lot of a faceless, nameless convenience store in a small hill country town not far from Austin EXACTLY why I love doing this so much.

Appreciation.

Like the inevitable appreciation of the team member that, like me, took a wrong turn after falling behind while I was reloading my SUV after our big SAG station break this morning.  Like he probably was, I was feeling pretty goofy about the fact that the team peloton was nowhere in sight despite my new iPhone with navigation, a Map My Ride file, and three google maps.  He was checking his phone’s GPS, too, and scratching his head when we stumbled upon each other.

I never tire of the power of the synchronicity that rules my life, even at seemingly insignificant times.  And I immediately felt the renewal of that palpable sense of purpose the day had started with when I rolled up, he loaded up his bike, and we sped off to find the group a few miles up the road.

And mostly, it’s for the kudos and smiles on the faces of the riders happy to have water for their empty bike bottles after 30 miles, and an emergency number to call when they bonk in the middle of nowhere (hit a metaphorical brick wall) or have a flat that no canister of CO2 will repair.  It’s great to be filling a need for two dozen or so people who well know the art of expressing appreciation when they feel it.

I’m still surprised, taken aback even, when my fellow teammates are so eager and genuine with their thanks for my simple acts of support.

But then it is pre-dawn in the middle of nowhere on a Sunday morning.  I could be at home warm in my bed, or at least curled up with an herb tea on my deck watching the sun come up over the peace and tranquility of my back yard ravine.

Nah…I’ll take a bunch of sweaty, thankful friends in the middle of nowhere any day.

Tagged as: Austin Cycle Camp, cycling, synchronicity