Friday, October 13, 2006

Curse of the Whinge Ride

I had one of those rides yesterday where nothing seemed to be in my favor. I was on the road again and planned to do the usual stop in Fruita for a quick ride before pressing farther west. I've been making this a habit, but yesterday I decided to do a different, harder trail than the usual. That was my first mistake. Here's a list of the other things that made the ride one of 'those' days:

My coordination was off
My legs were heavy
My suspension had lost some air
It wasn't as warm as I thought it would be
I looked at every rock I DIDN'T want to hit, and subsequently hit it
Part of the trail was still wet
The sun was in my eyes during what is normally the best part of the ride
My picture taking was crap

Say what you want about the American notion of not riding wet trails, but trust me when I say that you DO NOT want to ride Fruita trails when they are wet. Especially if you plan to ride a trail that is shared by offroad vehicles. All in all, I should have cut bait, but this particular trail (Mack Ridge) is easier once you've passed the techy beginning, and turning around would have been worse than carrying on. It was the first ride in a long time that actually made me feel like it wasn't worth it.

I made up for it today by stopping for an out and back in St. George, UT. The trail I did is an absolute hoot, and it more than made up for my numptiness yesterday.

I embrace the Whinge Ride-an inevitability for all of us who ride bikes-simply because it keeps me humble. Whinge Rides make me appreciate the good rides just a bit more. And well, it keeps the cosmic balance.

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

My life up to now Part 2

RIght...finally recovering from the Interbike madness. The show really offered nothing spectacular, other than the chance to hang out with great friends for a week. Chipps and I took the long way back to Denver afterwards and did some riding/driving through places I'd never been to before. It was a thoroughly enjoyable time. The scenery in southern Utah reminds me why I declare that State to be the most beautiful in the Union.

I'm back off to SoCal in the next couple of days before heading to NorCal for Chrissy's wedding and a couple of other events. Then it's home for a few days before driving south to Texas. Not really looking forward to that trip. I'll be busy most of November and rewarding myself with a flight to London on December 4th.

I don't have anything profound to say (ever, really). I can't say I've done much deep thinking in the recent weeks. Nothing that really jumps out at me, anyway. That's probably a relief to some. I think I've just been going with the flow and trying to make the most out of life in general. My dad's health has been very up and down, and as usual I'm trying to stay positive and not thinkg too much about the 'what if's'. If I let myself get carried away, then I start feeling sad about something that hasn't even happened yet. Maybe I'm not being realistic enough as a result.

Anyhoo...it was good to see everyone from over yonder on my side of the pond. Some for the first time, and others again. For those of you who weren't here, you were missed.