Andrew T Lyman

experimentalist

2011

Monday Ride No.2: Finding One’s Self (77miles)



I spent today in search of Lyman. A vague place 30-ish miles to the Southwest of Portland. I added about 20 extra miles to the journey because the self, it turns out, is a difficult thing to find, and not really worth the journey according to locals. I found myself off map around Alfred- a charming little hampshire itself, and proceeded to get more lost from there. The whole ride today was gorgeous- no wind, sun for most of the trip, through absolutely beautiful and untrafficked countryside. Once I got to the back-roads outside of Hollis (which has an incredible bridge over the Saco River) there were very few cars out at all- only rolling hills, deep trees, beautiful old farmhouses, and pots of gray water. It was very different having both a non-distinct and unknown destination and page of fairly complex directions for this ride. Brunswick was a destination I knew well, with a great lunch waiting, and a straight shot there and back. This journey had me weaving in and out of old state roads and looking for long-non-existent signs. The suspicion of going off course really occupied a large chunk of my thoughts- even when I was on the right track. I stopped to get directions and a banana in Alfred and got some vague directions that set me off on a circuitous route that bordered on disheartening. I was happy for the ride itself, but I had come a long way, and very much wanted to find this place that I had a name in common- if for no other reason than that. I did eventually pass through Lyman- had that banana from Alfred on the bleachers of the boarded up middle school. It wasn’t until I got back home and plotted my points that I discovered just what I had managed to accomplish (or not accomplish depending):



Note the location of Lyman smack dab in the middle of that huge circle I drew in search of it. I’m at this point unsure if I have to now journey back. If I would have plotted a straight line there and back there would be no feeling, but I’ve managed to encircle MYSTERY! I’ve created a giant (w)hole, with the attempted destination right in the middle. I don’t know if I can ignore the potency of that kind of pull. I would have never known if I didn’t look it up when I got home. We’ll have to see if I journey back that way. So what should have been a 53 mile ride turned into 77miles. I feel pretty great actually. Brunswick last week got a lot of the creaks out of my joints. I am fairly exhausted though, and believe I’ve earned my spot in bed tonight. Go in search of the self- find it when, despite being lost, you give up your objective and trust your intuition. That’s how I found Lyman today. Beautiful. Exhausting. Out there still.

This entry was posted on Monday, April 26th, 2010 at 8:31 pm and is filed under Action, Maine, Travel, biking. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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