Fearless and flat-backed. that is the Way of a Warrior entering any Bardo Realm or Battlefield! heading into the black pitch of a Death Valley night during my 111-mile, 13,000' pull of the 2004 Furnace Creek 508. i train myself to embrace Bardo Realms; those sketchy, itchy, nervy transistions where the Warrior must rely upon his or her own Solo Practice and gut intuition in order to get to the other side. in this photo from the LA Times, i was confident as i headed into the night pitch, for i had trust in my training, and in my teammates, particularly the driver for this stage in my support van, Ron Jones, who shares with us below a fantastic Bardo Story from - of all things - a simple Bee on the hood of his car.
Coach's Note:
only since i have raced ultra cycling races with RJ would i publish a photo from someone whose appreciation of the Dharma commands him to take a picture of a Bug Being on his hood while driving at 80mph on a So Cal freeway! i have trusted my life and limb to RJ's high speed driving fitness. i recall a certain descent of Townes Pass in the wee hours of a Death Valley night during the Furnace Creek 508. the crosswinds were a monster, ripping and tearing at my bicycle. my front wheel was like an epileptic having an hour-long seizure; shimmying and shaking violently from the winds and high speed descent. how my front fork did not break must be attributed to Vishnu! RJ clocked my ninja descent at speeds of 50-60 mph. i could only make out and react to the turns in the road by the glare of his headlights in the support van behind me. if RJ did not stay within several Zen inches of my rear wheel on that black as pitch descent, i would have literally flown off any one of those dozens of switchback turns!
i guess the Coach in me is just advising; do NOT try this in your own car.
the Dharma Teacher and Protector in me however, is giggling with delight at my Beloved RJ's enthusiastic appreciation of the Dharma in the form of a Bee Being. i absolutely LOVE the fact he took the time to photoshop the picture so we can see both the bug and his speedometer! click on the photo to enlarge. this is a DL Classic! Enjoy! i'll return to my MT. TAYLOR prep entries in a moment. this was just too go(o)d to pass up...
DO NOT MISS "BEE CHI" in today's DL Subscription Format!
A Hilarious and Potent Contribution from one of DL Most Popular Guest Writers; world champion ultra racer; Ron Jones!
this is a DL CLASSIC for sure!
