Thank you

Thank you for letting me ride up and down, thank you letting me get out and get my fix, thank you for letting the world not conspire against me, thank you for finally getting the bugs out, thank you for the silence, thank you for the music, thank you for letting me remain a little masochistic.

Passion

You have to respect people who take something that means the utmost to them to the furthest point. Athletes at the highest level push beyond the limit where most people will stop. Clearly there are more examples but I try not to delve too far into religion here, though I do wonder why there are no windows in the Kingdom Hall for the Jehovah Witness? Turning yourself inside out for your sport is good, maybe riding too far or too hard or trying that one trick you just couldn't stick on the coping, slamming time and again and not giving up, passion. Hawk, Hamilton & others get to that place pretty often.

Telluride

So we are walking around Telluride, what once was a cool little hippie/ski bum town that is now ruined by rich people. They have a “free box” for which locals and others may leave clothing, shoes and such that is better used by someone else. Well, these two ladies roll up in a new Volvo and start perusing the freebox, not making a donation but making a shopping visit. Walking past and watching this kind of made me angry, why in hell were these women looking for used stuff? Were they having trouble making that car payment? Were they worried how they were going to furnish that fourth home they just bought? I hate the rich, not because they have and I don’t, but because of the conspicuous consumption of most. Looking around this valley and seeing the 6000+ square foot homes that maybe see a weeks worth of use a year and the resources squandered to make them puts me off. I wish that they could make do with a cabin on 3 acres and allow others to do the same. Solitude can be found, but why look for it within the confines of your cavernous “mountain home” you get to once a year. Look in the woods on the peaks in the meadows that are still estate free. Instead what were once cool wildflower-filled meadows are dotted with McMansions with forced Kentucky Bluegrass that uses too much water, requiring mowing that uses too much gas, paying itinerant workers too little to do the groundskeeping. Sustainable? I think not. Eat the rich, a new view on Jonathan Swift’s solution to the famine in the UK centuries ago, instead of eating the children as Swift proposed, lets eat the rich. More later

Wake

Odd, I wake up some mornings and it seems as though I barely slept and I need to hit the restart button. Today was one of those, my eyes were so closed that when B needed his milk I had to pry my eyes open. I was awake with my eyes closed. Getting in I needed more fuel than the two pounds of sugar that is a bearclaw. Mikey made me a wonderful egg sandwich, nothing like a real breakfast before 6 a.m. The sickness and ague that has haunted me all summer seems to be fading, cross will be good, the motivation is there. Riding the bike has never been so fun as it is now. The voices aren't saying a whole lot. I give them a chance to talk and they keep quiet. It really is nice. A little more sleep and I think they'll be gone for a while.

Dumb

Today started out really well, it was really dark on the way in but I made it in clean, with a Bearclaw, thank you Daylight Donuts! Hard to beat getting a big donut at 5.20 in the a.m. The work day was good, the new soles showed up for my Sidis and I was really excited to get them on. I went to the bank and to do recycling for work and in a moment of stupidity I put the soles in the recycling box, dumped it in the huge bin at the recycling center and didn't remember until three hours later. Bam, 50 bucks down the drain. The day ended well, Doug and I went for a great ride on the trails above the house. The sun going down the trails were perfect, the orange light bleeding through the aspen trees that are lowly thinning, at dusk the trails are so well defined that you get a different view on your home trails.

Wonder

I wonder what it takes to get to that place. The one where it all makes sense. Nothing is in doubt, nothing is out of place, not in an OCD kind of out of place but in a real metaphysical, a place for it all place. I look for it and at times seem to approach it, am I ahead of the game? Am I just pretending to feel that it all fits? Am I looking where the mess is not? I would like to think (obviously) that I am going in the right direction, that it is in place and that I am not sticking my head in the sand. Idealistic, yep, solipsistic, at times but I like what I see in the reflection, most of the time.

Gulch

The flume was everything I thought it would be, perfect singletrack for about 4 miles a bit wet and loamy, with slight changes in elevation all the way to Georgia Pass Road. The Colorado Trail off of Georgia Pass Road as usual was some of the best riding I have ever found. The little bit of rain and sleet and graupel we had made the trail even better, high speed rolling sections with great traction, perfect! No flats or mechanicals, a great day.

Old Post

I wrote this last year in November and remembered how good it made me feel to write, I dug it out of the archive section and thought I would post again for a new look on an old piece. 11/7/2003 Lost in the supermarket I made it in early over snow covered roads and dirt that were not as slick as yesterday, the crossbike didn't even slip once. I got a good ride afterwork to open up the legs. The snow was blowing a bit and the peaks looked beautiful snowcovered, the ski area even looked good. The grocery on the way home was a challenge, the bike geek coustume a week after halloween was an attention getter in the aisles. The pack, the suit, everything was a source of entertainment for my fellow shoppers. The whole time I had The Clash song playing in my head "I'm all lost in the supermarket, I can no longer shop happily" I saw an old boss who I really didn't have anything to say to, she got me fired for some reason that I won't bore anyone with, but when I saw her a few months ago she acted like we were old friends, I try not to have anger towards anyone but some people get me going. Meanwhile I'm thinking Clash and enjoying the song in my head (no portable music today) while I shop. Finally I filled my list and got the hell out of the store and back into my pleasant little two-wheeled world for the ride home. Enjoy the music: I'm all lost in the supermarket I can no longer shop happily I came in here for that special offer I guaranteed personality I wasn't born so much as I fell out Nobody seemed to notice me We had a hedge back home in the suburbs Over which I never could see I heard the people who lived on the ceiling Scream and fight most scarily Hearing that noise was my first ever feeling That's how it's been all around me

New Template

I am working on a new template for the blog. I keep running into troubles with getting my links up and running. I wish I knew HTML better. Any input would be appreciated, I think my comment link from Haloscan is working. Thanks Tim

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.