Sites, sounds and smells of a grease junkie

This is long overdue, I realize but, you know, life. A couple quick thoughts post trip. 1 - This was considerably less wilderness-y than I had expected. Not that it was a bad thing but I had not expected latrines and nice campsites. I had expected people especially on the weekends. Though we only saw one other pair of long distance hikers during the entire trip. Everyone else was day hikers. 2 - I would do this again. I would like to try this same section again. Other parts of the SHT. I would like to try winter hiking up there. AND I want to try hiking other areas. This has awoken a new love for me. I love my bike and this won't replace it, but this was a lot of fun. The whole thing. It was hard work sometimes. But I learned alot. And I would like to push myself to do more and to do some harder stuff. I could see a trip out West to cover some of the Rockies for sure. The crew for the trip consisted of Jeff, Scott and myself. That’s it. A hearty trio! Anyway, enough of t...

First, Happy New Year! I'm not much for resolutions. I'm more of a "steady and constant" change kind of person. That is the kind of change that sticks with me. Tweaking life, bit by bit. Writing this is difficult. Not because it is a hard subject but my thoughts and words have been elsewhere for a while. Regardless, here's a little something. Call them resolutions if you want. Call them my hopes. Plans. Dreams. Here's what I'm aiming for with 2015. Nine, Ten, Eleven and Twelve.  I am going to expand my volunteerism. More often. More places. Take V to Madison and Milwaukee. Ride at least one trail that I have never ridden before. Ride in a state I haven't ridden before. Hug more Love more That's enough. Time for some Nine. Hope you have an amazing 2015!

Things as of late have been an exercise in patience, persistence, priorities and perspective. And by as of late I should say...this year. :-) Nothing horrible which is why I say exercise not a study in the four Ps. Funny thing about it all, is I'm OK with that. I am so damned grateful that can say that. That I can feel those things. Most of you all have no idea have no idea how long I didn't feel. I did a decent job for a good stretch of time making sure I didn't feel. Even though there has been a bit of tumult this year, I am grateful for it and grateful for my ability to just sit with those feelings. Hope today finds you (yes YOU!) well. J

Dear fellow humans whom I share the roads with when I am on my bicycle, Leave me alone. Please. Please do not see how close to me you can get. Please keep your vehicle on your side of the white line. Your vehicle is massive and would squish me like a bug. I like being alive. There is no need to verbally assault or harass me. Calling me "f%cking f@g" or "queer" only makes you look stupid. If you yell "get a job" to me that only makes me wonder how much you've had to drink. Think of it like this. When you go out to play volleyball or baseball or go fishing or hunting or whatever it is you like to do, you wouldn't want random people threatening you right? Well I'd rather not be hassled either. I'm just out for a ride because it is what I enjoy. So, again please just leave me alone. I will do my best to simply stay out of your way. Sometimes though our paths will intersect. You may have to slow down. I know this is some sort of ma...

There are not many places I feel normal. Most of the time I feel odd. Left out. Not part of the crowd, even if I am IN a crowd. But on the bike I feel normal. Usually I'm not in a crowd, it is usually alone. I (try to) clear my mind of thoughts. Easier to do when I'm riding off road. Just focus on the breathing. Just focus on the spinning. Where should I position my body? Find the flow. The rhythm. Move those legs old man. Push a little harder Grandpa. Come on. Show me what you got! That all you got? Push. Harder. Faster. More. When my muscles ache and lungs burn, that is when I feel most normal. Some days it is frustrating because even if I push I can't find that feeling. It is still good to ride make no mistake. But my brain gets frustrated. I want to feel OK. Even if it is only for a little while.

Confidence inspiring. That's my first impression of the Remedy 650 (27.5 I don't care WHAT you call it.)  Which is great. I've ridden stuff that I've never ridden before. Again, give me shit for being old and slow all you want. I'm the one having fun. Of course that confidence is a double-edge sword. I've found myself in a couple situations where I was clearly out of my current skill set. Not a bad thing, that's what I bought the bike for. I want to learn how to ride new things. However, I did manage to bang my ribs around a bit when I managed to not clear a rock pile. Also, I'll have to brush up on my falling skills it seems. I'm not going to go into tech-weenie bullshit. Don't ask me how much travel it has or what the weight is. I don't know. If you want to know, let me direct you to trekbikes.com  where you can find out all sorts of that information. Mostly I don't care about the technical side of it. I know how it wor...

Just got home from a Work-cation. Few quick thoughts. 1) I love the Rem Si-Fiddy. Say all you want about that being too much travel for the Midwest. All I know is there is a ton of stuff I can ride now that I didn't before. On top of all that, it climbs. Well. 2) The Farm aka Jim's Farm aka The Trek Trails are a blast. Glad I got to ride them as much as I did AAAAAAND with a night ride! 3) I love the Levis-Trow Mound trails. Also, they are the best way to break up the drive from Madison to Minneapolis. If you have never ridden there, you need to. 4) Sometimes I do not miss working in the office. Sometimes, especially after being there for a few days, I do miss it. There are some really f%cking amazing people who work there. I am grateful that I get to call some of them my friends. 5) Bird's Ruins Disc Golf Course in Marshall, WI is a thoroughly enjoyable course. 6) I have the best girlfriend in the world. That's all for know. Xs Os