Yesterday along with @spoke_n_words I rode 56 km of mostly gravel through the heart of New Brunswick in Autumn and climbed over 1000 meters over 4 peaks. The views afforded at the top of each were, to say the least, breathtaking and when confronted with the full breadth of moments like that and one’s desire to ‘capture’ them, cameras suddenly just get real dumb.
No camera will capture how the sun felt after climbing in the shade for 15 minutes. No photograph is gonna tell you – the viewer – how I – the slightly overweight, middle-aged cyclist, who absolutely fucking refused to get off the bike on the climb up even if it meant resorting to zigzagging back and forth across the scree-laden fire road – felt once I finally topped out on each one. No photograph will convey the feeling of thinking you were at the top of a climb, rounding a curve and seeing another wall go straight up. No camera is going to adequately translate the exquisite taste of the orange I stopped to eat at the top of the first climb. (The Enlightened Orange).
Forget visuals, it’s impossible to even DESCRIBE the colors of the foliage on that day. No photograph will actually cause you to question your sanity while simultaneously giggling and screaming out loud as you hit ludicrous speed on the descents knowing that just then, at that moment, you cheated death.
No photograph is going to properly convey the giddiness of rolling into the restaurant parking lot post ride, high-fiving your homie and that feeling of transcendent stillness after getting off the bike and sitting down. Finally, nothing will convey what it was like to head into the Gasthof Bavarian Restaurant in full Oktoberfest Sunday Morning tilt and inhale the best sausage, potatoes and sauerkraut you’ve ever had. You’ll just have to take my word for it. I’ll share the only two photos I bothered taking. Enjoy. Shout out to @outdoor_elements_sussex for throwing it all down.
