BennyEast.Com/Blog The official blog of Kenny West

Chasing Daylight

"Come on... We're chasing daylight here!"  My coworker and friend yelled to me from across the parking lot.  That phrase would stick with me all day.  It's not that I haven't heard that phrase before, it's just that, it reminded me of someone... Someone I've been chasing named Daylight.

"We've got plenty of time!"  I answered back to my friend sitting beside her two friends on their bikes.  "It's ten on the dot now."

"Just call your friend and ask him where he is."  She shouted back.

"Okay okay."  I got out my phone and listened to the phone tone as it rang.  He picked up, "Oh man, Kenny, I'm just getting out of bed now."

"Ah okay, no big deal, let's catch up another time."

"Sounds like a plan."

Click.

"Okay.  Are we all ready?"

"Ready."

The four of us started our journey along the SRT.  The Schuylkill River Trail, as Wikipedia puts it, is a multi-use trail along the banks of the Schuylkill River in southeastern Pennsylvania.  We started our ride from the town of Conshohocken, locally known as Conshy, entering the trail just next to the Conshohocken Brewery.

The ride was peaceful, and fun.  We took our time and rode sometimes beside one another, and at other times in a line.  My bike chain came off the gear three times before I figured out I was switching gears improperly and causing it to malfunction.

After a good two hours we arrived at a bar near Phoenixville called Fitzwater Station.  My coworker/friend Diane and I sat out on the porch next to the canal enjoying a beer and some lunch.  Our conversation spanned from books, to politics, to work.  We ate and drank and relaxed.

"I can't believe how nice of a day it is."

"Me either.  It's beautiful out!"

When the bill came, she sprang for the tab.  "You'll get the next one."

"Deal."

The ride back was only the two of us.  Her friends had to leave to be somewhere at 1pm so they were already well ahead of us.

Chasing Daylight.  We're chasing daylight.  The phrase came up on the ride back as we calculated how much time it would take for us to complete the ride.  I really thought about the phrase and thought how much it resonated with me.  Daylight has been in my thoughts for years now.  Nearly everything I do, I kind of in a way have Daylight there with me.  It's like she's always on my mind and every thought I have, every action I do, every activity is me thinking about her while I'm at that place and time.  Me chasing her.

We left a little after one in the afternoon.  I started to think maybe this bike ride might end at our second stop.  We rode for over an hour straight.  When we arrived at Conshohocken Brewing I felt completely wiped of energy.  I thought that was it.  I thought that I'd have my second beer and be done.  The beer came, and the chili that I ordered came too, lunch part two.

Back at Fitzwater I had a very nice BLT on tomato basil bread of some sort.  Diane and I shared the vegetarian chili taking turns dipping the complimentary chips into the chili.

Maybe the beer had something magical in it, or maybe it was the three glasses of water I drank, or maybe it was the chili.  Somehow, I decided that we should push on to manayunk.

I found out as we were sitting at the bar in Conshy Brewing that the ride isn't evenly spaced out.  A faded sign on the side of the road said it's about 15 miles, not the love shack as the song by The B-52's tells us, but Fitzwater Station.  Another 15 miles back, for a total of 30 miles on the first "half" of the ride.  The second part was only 5 miles each way, a third of the distance.

With the hard part out of the way, I pushed on.  Diane is an avid cyclist.  Her and her husband are actually taking part in The City to Shore, a bike ride for MS, coming up soon.  They raised a good bit of money.  That bike ride is about 100 miles.  So, this was just a training ride for her.  For me though?  It was kicking my butt!

5 miles later we changed our route from Manayunk Brewery to a nice little taco place that had a sangria special happening.  We sat streetside slurping down sangria and eating tacos.  With plenty of time to spare we just enjoyed the beautiful day.  She took a photo of passing dogs to show her kids and husband.  I updated my Facebook status and checked in.

We finished our meal and split that tab.  However, we later calculated that we were off slightly in our tally of who paid how much, so I bought her a final beer back at Conshy Brewing.

We took our time getting back to our last stop of Conshy once again, and after putting our bikes away in our cars, we enjoyed a final beer.

"What a day!"

"I had a great time."

"Oh yeah.  Definitely.  I know you said you weren't sure if you'd make it, but I knew you'd push on through."

"I almost called it quits after the second stop here at Conshy, but I decided to just keep going.  It was a lot of fun!"

We said goodnight and I came home to feed my cats and call it an early night.  I feel a little sore today but not bad at all.  I actually feel pretty good.  I'd like to do that ride again perhaps next year, or maybe in the spring.  Make it a twice a year thing.  Springtime or early summer and late summer early fall.  I thought it would just be a cool ride to do with a larger group, although I was just fine with it being the two of us.

Bicycles and beer and friends made for a fantastic Sunday.  And we did make it back before daylight.  Daylight officially chased.  Miss Daylight on the other hand?  Still chasing her, even if it's only with my thoughts these days.  Always Chasing Miss Daylight...