With recent grumblings of budget cuts, fat trimming, scrimping, and salvaging I had a few undefined thoughts bouncing around my head on my ride. For some reason, this Dylan classic involuntarily jumped in my mind and I was reminded that these are not the first hard days we have fallen on nor will they be the last. The problems may change or evolve, but the themes stay the same. Perhaps it's our perspective and our approach that may make all the difference.
The Times They Are A-Changin'
Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.
Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'.
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'.
Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside
And it is ragin'.
It'll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'.
Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin'.
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'.
The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is
Rapidly fadin'.
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin'.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Personal Atonement
A few days ago, I rolled my last mile of the year. My goal was 14,000 miles. My usual end of the year blog posts consists of a detailed breakdown of my seasonal mileage and what steeds saw what miles. However, this year the final post is a little different.
I felt a little like Forest Gump as I reached my goal. I simply stopped and looked around, and thought to myself, “I’m kind of tired, I think I’ll stop riding and go home now”. And at that, my year of riding was complete. I am indeed tired, not so much physically, but mentally.
There is a short two mile loop that myself and a few other mileage junkies go to round up our miles at the end of a ride. We commonly refer to it as the Champs-Élysées. I found it only fitting to head out to this ritualistic spot to finish the year and do some soul-searching for next year. As I rolled lap after lap I reflected on the year behind me. So much had changed for me in a matter of a year, some of which was for the good and some of which was the complete unforeseen.
There is a quote from the epic Mountain Bike film Roam that I have always found to be metaphorically fitting to my approach to cycling. It says, “On a mountain bike, you can travel a great distance in a short amount of time, or a short distance in a great amount of time.” This past year I have traveled many great distances but I have also experienced the paralyzing sudden halt that can ensue when your world dramatically changes in a way you never even considered a possibility. All in all, I believe I maintained forward motion to the best of my ability.
When you throw away wattage numbers, mileage accumulation, time tallying, race results, bike weight, and all the other finite measurements that attract us to the sport you are left with simply the ride and the journey. When broken down, what I take away most from this sport is the value in the journey. I have learned many important lessons this year about myself, my world, how I interact with the world, and the race itself.
Typically, this time of year would be fueled by whatever race results or personal accomplishments I am aiming at for the upcoming season. However, I feel I have changed my perspective going into the 2010 season. What I am most eager for is to apply those lessons I have learned from the past and embrace the journey this year. I am quite confident that if the journey is the main focus, the results will simply fall in line.
So I guess its officially that time again…MONKHOOD. My private war starts today. I’ll see you all at the start line.
I felt a little like Forest Gump as I reached my goal. I simply stopped and looked around, and thought to myself, “I’m kind of tired, I think I’ll stop riding and go home now”. And at that, my year of riding was complete. I am indeed tired, not so much physically, but mentally.
There is a short two mile loop that myself and a few other mileage junkies go to round up our miles at the end of a ride. We commonly refer to it as the Champs-Élysées. I found it only fitting to head out to this ritualistic spot to finish the year and do some soul-searching for next year. As I rolled lap after lap I reflected on the year behind me. So much had changed for me in a matter of a year, some of which was for the good and some of which was the complete unforeseen.
There is a quote from the epic Mountain Bike film Roam that I have always found to be metaphorically fitting to my approach to cycling. It says, “On a mountain bike, you can travel a great distance in a short amount of time, or a short distance in a great amount of time.” This past year I have traveled many great distances but I have also experienced the paralyzing sudden halt that can ensue when your world dramatically changes in a way you never even considered a possibility. All in all, I believe I maintained forward motion to the best of my ability.
When you throw away wattage numbers, mileage accumulation, time tallying, race results, bike weight, and all the other finite measurements that attract us to the sport you are left with simply the ride and the journey. When broken down, what I take away most from this sport is the value in the journey. I have learned many important lessons this year about myself, my world, how I interact with the world, and the race itself.
Typically, this time of year would be fueled by whatever race results or personal accomplishments I am aiming at for the upcoming season. However, I feel I have changed my perspective going into the 2010 season. What I am most eager for is to apply those lessons I have learned from the past and embrace the journey this year. I am quite confident that if the journey is the main focus, the results will simply fall in line.
So I guess its officially that time again…MONKHOOD. My private war starts today. I’ll see you all at the start line.
Monday, December 28, 2009
Envy
Sometimes when I read blogs of fellow riders who live in 4-season cycling environments I am envious. I’m envious that they never have to take 45 minutes just to weatherproof themselves before they go out and ride during the December-March months. I’m envious that they never have to worry about numb fingers and toes and the ever-looming ominous threat of frostbite. And I’m envious that they don’t need a bike dedicated simply to the salty icy conditions and probably don’t even own studded tires.
Today I rolled 82 miles of snow-covered winter wonderland landscape. The miles were slow and arduous and mentally therapeutic. I feel bad for those riders who have never got to experience a day like today.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood
On this day, I wish I could go back to this moment in time, even if just for a minute or so. I wish I could capture the magic that Christmas morning once was with my family. Memories are all I have now. It’s amazing how a day that was once filled with so much, can now feel so empty.
On this day, I will cherish the memories of my brother and do my best to create new ones with those he has left behind.
That though the radiance which was once so bright be now forever taken from my sight. Though nothing can bring back the hour of splendor in the grass, glory in the flower.
We will grieve not, rather find strength in what remains behind.
And O, ye Fountains, Meadows, Hills, and Groves,
Forebode not any severing of our loves!
Yet in my heart of hearts I feel your might;
I only have relinquished one delight
To live beneath your more habitual sway.
I love the Brooks which down their channels fret,
Even more than when I tripped lightly as they;
The innocent brightness of a new-born Day
Is lovely yet;
The Clouds that gather round the setting sun
Do take a sober colouring from an eye
That hath kept watch o'er man's mortality;
Another race hath been, and other palms are won.
Thanks to the human heart by which we live,
Thanks to its tenderness, its joys, and fears,
To me the meanest flower that blows can give
Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears
-William Wordsworth
Have a Superfly Holiday!!!
The stockings have been hung from the chimney with care...while visions of bombing trails in 2010 danced in my head.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Some Rides...
Some rides separate the strong willed from the weak.
Some rides require a little more gumption than they’re probably worth.
Some rides are more beneficial to your mental fortitude rather than physical.
Some rides keep you asking the whole time; Why am I out here?…this is just silly, I am miserable, sitting at home on the couch seems like so much better of an option right now.
Tonight was one of those rides.
Finally, when some rides are over, you are left feeling like there was no other place you would have rather been.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Resurrection from Complacency
It’s been about a month since I’ve had anything to say that people would care to read about. Actually, I’ve had a tremendous stream of thoughts going through my head but haven’t quite been able to formulate the words to describe them.
My personality is such that I don’t do well when I don’t have some kind of ambitious and audacious goal I’m chasing after and looking down the road towards. However, thanks to some recent delivery of some fresh fish and a few new ideas, I believe I am officially coming out of the funk.
Despite my new found focus, I’ve still been searching for the right motivation and fuel for the fire. I stumbled across this video today which has really captured some of the feelings I’ve been having in a form that transcends words. My heart dropped the first time I watched it as it conveyed so many emotions I've been having so clearly.
Enjoy. This blog is finally up and running again.
I'm going to try flying one more time.
My personality is such that I don’t do well when I don’t have some kind of ambitious and audacious goal I’m chasing after and looking down the road towards. However, thanks to some recent delivery of some fresh fish and a few new ideas, I believe I am officially coming out of the funk.
Despite my new found focus, I’ve still been searching for the right motivation and fuel for the fire. I stumbled across this video today which has really captured some of the feelings I’ve been having in a form that transcends words. My heart dropped the first time I watched it as it conveyed so many emotions I've been having so clearly.
Enjoy. This blog is finally up and running again.
I'm going to try flying one more time.
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