Chasing the Sun
“Mama always told me not to look into the eyes of the Sun, but Mama, that's where the fun is.” -Manfred Mann's Earth Band
I could see it getting closer. It was maybe a half mile away but I had to stop. That giant ball of fire hanging so low in the sky wasn’t keeping me very warm today but it was calling me and I fully intended to seek her out. I was riding in the shadows on the shady side of the river. Today the shady side of the river extended over half way across. Because of recent snowfall I was tethered to the snow machine trail in front of me but I could see that it would lead me into the light and the riding was good.
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| Do you see the light? |
After carefully laying my bike down I went for a jog. I’ve been working on my cold-weather skills lately and I’ve discovered that if I get off my bike and jog around for a couple hundred meters my toes warm right up. The rest of my extremities are always fine; it’s my toes that don’t fare well in the super cold weather, especially the big ones, you know, the piggy that went to market. I didn’t want to have to pull the plug and have to go wee wee wee all-the-way-home. Maybe they’re cold because I’m pedaling with my standard-issue summertime leather hiking boots but I can get two pair of socks into them as long as I don’t lace them up too tightly. I’ve tried biking with my burlier North Face brand winter boots but it’s no fun to peddle around with big clunky boots on. I know there are special wintertime biking shoes on the market, but dropping another couple hundred bucks on this already expensive biking habit doesn't seem prudent or necessary. So I jog.
There I was hustling away from my bike on the newly packed snow machine trail courtesy of the Mid-Valley Trail Club. I had already been out for a couple of hours and it was 15 below zero and the snot-cicles on my mustache were growing longer and thicker. The longer ones on the sides were bouncing off of my cheeks as I ran up the trail. “Hey, I’m going just as fast as I was on the bike.” I thought. Before long I turned around and headed back to the bike and by the time I got back, sure enough, my toes were warming up.
This would be my pattern throughout the day; peddle for a while then stop and then do the warm-up toe jog. Although I carry-on, it was not bothersome in the least and most of my attention was centered around following the trail and chasing the sun.
It rose today at 10:18 A.M and set at 3:29 P.M. giving me five hours and eleven minutes to play with. Part of my wellness plan for the winter includes actively seeking out dates with the sun. The longer the dates and the more frequent they are, the better off I will be, I figure because in the past I have suffered from S.A.D.(Seasonal affective disorder)
Wikipedia says this: Seasonal affective disorder is also known as winter depression, winter blues, or seasonal depression. It is a mood disorder subset in which people who have normal mental health throughout most of the year experience depressive symptoms at the same time each year, most commonly in the winter.
The good news is that the condition treatable. Many think it is brought-on by lack of sunlight and although we don’t get much of it in Alaska in the winter it is a variable that can be planned-for, maximized and as it turns out, supplemented. One of the recommended treatment options is called light-therapy and it involves sitting in front of a special full-spectrum light each day for a few minutes. Exposure to sunlight is thought to increase the brain's release of a hormone called serotonin that we know is linked to mood. Light therapy mimics the therapeutic properties of the sun and is thought to do the same thing.
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| My therapy light box has been dormant for years but it is making a strong comeback. |
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A dark figure stood before me in the trail. Standing a hair over 75 feet tall, I was impressed. I knew that he would continue to grow but I wasn’t going to stick around to find out. I was on the move. I unzipped my bike bag and drank what I could of my mostly frozen nalgene bottle and then pushed off pedaling my way up the trail as my dark friend mimicked me, danced around and silently morphed in and out of view.
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| Sasquatch? |
The trail had only been packed a few times by snowmachines so far but it was delightful nonetheless. Long sections of it had set-up perfectly for riding. It weaved over and around various islands and channels of the Susitna River snaking its way North and West crossing finally at a steep cut in a bluff that locals have named the Ravine. For kicks I hiked up the Ravine and ran into the sun on the first swamp. My toes warmed with the extra effort and having reached the furthest point on my journey today, I turned around and back down the Ravine. The Sun would be in my face now and I was feeling just fine.
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| Flanked by Sasquatch.....on a bike! |
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| Mama always told me not to look into the eye of the sun. |
