I couldn’t quit.
My thighs screamed from an 58 km uphill bike ride.
On the way to climb the first ever climbing route.
The line that Antoine de Ville climbed in 1492 [1]. How will I wipe out the dread from my recollections?
The minute I realized.
This trail was not a via ferrata[2] anymore.
Nor I climbed as planned.
I gambled.
In an overused soft sole boot I borrowed.
Later my girlfriend asked me: “What did you think about through the climb?”
I replied: “Had not a single thought in my mind.”
Placed my foot higher.
Gripped with the fingers.
Shifted balance.
Entered the zone.
I was one with the Flow.
There were no thoughts.
Time halted.
There was no me.
I dissolved in the surrounding.
The real hook in a long climb.
Is this state of mind without thoughts.
At bedtime that night I recalled the senses from the climb.
Despite the pain in my muscles.
Nothing could shake the delight of my soul.
Ever since when I climb a long route.
Or run a rugged trail.
I aim for the same mindless state.
When you last entered the Flow?
Further Reading, Notes, Credits:
[1] Short story of Mt. Aiguille’s First climb
[2] What’s a via ferrata anyways?
I wrote an answer for an question on Quora with the same title.
Yet this is how I meant to write it.
Photo by TheDigitalArtist