ride over the hudson

8 miles
just a short bit of Bike New York‘s Discover the Hudson Valley Ride
from Dutchess County Community College start
over the Walkway over the Hudson, former railroad bridge outside Poughkeepsie
took shelter with six or seven other cyclists on the other side while it poured rain
then scooted back over the bridge again and ended the ride soaking wet

rain all day today
it makes the outdoors seem alive

walkway soars 212 feet above the Hudson River
fear of heights kept me from looking down, or even much to the right or left
how to do it: count pedal strokes and stare straight ahead
strict discipline of mental activity being necessary to ride across that bridge

“In the seen, only the seen.” (not the imagined, i.e., somehow tumbling over the side of the bridge into the river)
Bahiya Sutta