On Being An Intermediate

The thing I thought about on the chairlift was the concept of 'intermediate'. It occurred to me, while I was looking at the blue run pass by underneath, that the term 'intermediate' applies to me across pretty much every recreational endeavor I do. I've described myself as 'intermediate with expert tendencies' in the past, and I thought that this sort of summed up the whole idea of what being an intermediate is. You have moved past being a beginner, and you are working your way towards being an expert.

You are in the middle. Middlin'. Average. Straddling the fence. Equidistant. Mezzo. Moyen. There are moments of absolute fluidity, when you and the bike/board feel as one, and you move into that trance-like state in which things just happen on their own with no intervention from you. Then, on the very next section of trail, or run on the piste, you feel out of balance and have no flow or finesse. You get to the bottom and wonder what the hell just happened, and ask yourself why you can't repeat the previous feeling constantly. Why is there no consistency? Oh that's right, it's because you are an intermediate.

Being in the middle has varying degrees, though. You can be closer to the beginning of the middle, or more towards the end. I think I display less beginner and more expert, so I'll call myself someone who is departing the middle and moving towards the more advanced.

The problem is, I've been stuck exiting the middle for a Very. Long. Time. So long, in fact, that I should have progressed to being a full-on expert a while ago, and at this point I should be a bit embarrassed that I'm not any better than I am. This applies to riding and snowboarding, but if I thought about it for a while, I'm sure I can come up with some other metaphor that this analogy also applies to.

I have a huge fear factor. This is what holds me back from the necessary push that I need to get better. The thought of getting hurt, and thus being unable to ride again for 6-8 weeks, is more agonizing than being conservative and sticking to what I know. I suppose I've learned how to really enjoy the lack of extremeness that I've achieved. I see other people doing things I wish I could do, and I think how amazing it would be, yet I can't bring myself to try. I still have fun, but that fun is almost always laced with the hidden desire to be better, and perhaps have what my subconscious feels would be 'betterer, more funerer fun'.

Oh well. The world needs it's intermediates to keep the balance between the staggeringly graceful, and the agonizingly clumsy. I can accept that, and I'll keep looking for those moments when I feel more like an expert, and I'll keep asking myself how I can make that happen more often than not. In the meantime, I'll have a fantastic time doing whatever it is that is better than riding the couch.

At least I'm an expert at that.

All Are Equal

I had a whole different post in mind to write today. I was sitting on the chairlift when the idea came to me. I was excited about the notion of typing the post up, not because it was some profound observation, but because I felt like I sort of learned a little bit more about myself.

Then, I got home and saw the inauguration of President Obama. I left the TV on for Frazier while I was out boarding. It had been on ABC this morning, since I knew they were planning on having a lot of coverage, which meant there would be a lot of talking going on. I think having the TV on soothes my dog a bit while I'm away. Maybe not.

Anyhoo...I got back just in time for the swearing in. Anyone who knows me probably understands that I don't consider myself to be all that patriotic. It's been a tough 8 years for this country, and although we are taught that we are to respect the office of the President, even if we don't respect the man in it, I have to say that the actions of the most recent occupant have made me lose faith in our government as a whole.

Like most people who are happy about the election outcome, I was looking forward to today. Out with the old, in with the new. As I watched, I started to get that same feeling of hope that others have had about our new leader. So, as I continued to watch, I found myself sort of compelled to write a post about this instead.

So, for the first time in nearly a decade, I feel a little bit patriotic. Maybe it will be cool to be an American again in the near future. I'm hopeful.

Resolutions

This whole concept of making New Year resolutions has, over the years, become irksome. Making decisions that benefit yourself and others is something that should be done on a regular basis, not just once a year. How many people live up to their resolutions anyway? And when they don't, how often do they feel down on themselves? So, I've given up on the idea of a resolution at the beginning of the year, and instead, decided to carry on making good choices all the time, and conducting myself in such a way that I at least give the appearance of being a nice person.

Travel-ocity

Once again I find myself being slack with my updates. Sorry...again.

Anyhoo...I essentially wrapped up my work travel just before Thanksgiving, and then my non-work travel started. First, there was the Thanksgiving excursion down to Mom and Dad's. Then, I jetted off to the UK to spend my birthday in the country I was not born into, not in this life anyway. Now I'm back at Mom and Dad's only to head off to Costa Rica tomorrow to spend my New Year holiday in a country I've never been to before.

I'm excited.

Everyone I've ever known who has traveled to Costa Rica raves about it. I was invited to join my very good friends and colleagues Ross and Tori, along with their significant others, and Foxy Nick. Others were invited but have found reasons why they couldn't make it. Matt wins the 'I have to travel the farthest' award by making the long journey from the YouKay. It's going to be a great group.

I've never gone anyplace warm in the winter. I've never felt the need to. I love winter, generally, and have found snowboarding and snowshoeing good ways to stay active during the long winter months. This is going to be a switch. The temperatures are due to range between 70-75F (20-23C). Shorts and t-shirts in January! I guess I'll learn how the Floridians feel.

So, since I probably won't be posting again for a while, let me take the opportunity now to wish everyone happiness and prosperity in the New Year! See you in ought nine.

Protect your eyes.

I just got back from a fantastic trip down to North Carolina. It was work related, but it hardly seems fair to call it work. I was down there in conjunction with Trek Travel on their 4 day demo trip. There was actually a great deal of work involved. Part of that was due to the rides I had to lead. I got to ride trails in Pisgah National Forest, and Dupont Forest. Both absolutely amazing places to ride. The colors on the trees were astounding.



My roommate Darren went with me. I'm pretty sure he had a good time. Now, Darren is a guy's guy. He's popular with the ladies, has a lot of diverse interests that require lots of toys (mountain biking, dirt biking, etc), and he's an all around good guy. The only issue I openly have with Darren is his use of the word 'bitches'. It became my mission during our trip to try and encourage him to use another, less demeaning word...You know, like 'broads', or something. To try and encourage him to stop, I tried many tactics. A short, yet stern 'HEY!', a more pleading 'Seriously...please.', and sometimes brute force with a punch to the arm.

I thought I was making real progress. That is until we arrived at the home of my beloved parents on the way back north. This part of the story is important to remember for a bit later on. Keep reading...

A quick sidebar: anyone who knows my folks will understand where I owe the credit for my sarcastic wit. My father has a particularly biting sarcasm, and since his stroke it seems to be the one thing that has become more accute. I'm not sure he has much internal censorship. :~)

My family is very boisterous, and Thursday night dinners are shared with my brother and his family. This has become a mini-tradition since my brother was hit by a drunk driver two summers ago. A family meal is nothing short of a workout. There is copious laughter. I mean real, solid belly laughing. The kind that makes your face hurt.

Darren and I arrived at mom and dad's on one such Thursday night. Just after we finished our meal, I was holding my dad's hand when I noticed that his nails were getting long. His stroke has meant that his left hand doesn't really work, so he can't cut the nails on his right hand by himself.

This was the conversation that took place:

Me: Dad your nails are getting a bit long. They need to be trimmed.

Dad: No, they're ok.

Me: Not really dad. Why don't we trim them?

Dad: I keep them that long in case I have to scratch some bitch's eye out.

*Hysterical laughter from the table ensues. I think Darren was laughing harder than anyone.*

Me: You have no idea what you've just done, dad.

Darren: BWAH AHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!

My father used to be a minister.

Rough couple of days

No post in a while, and this one won't be long because frankly, I'm just not in the mood. But, since enquiring minds have been wanting to know, I'm giving an update here.

1) The job I was hoping for in the Trek UK office didn't pan out. Not because someone else was hired, but because the needs of the marketing department changed between the time the job was posted, and now. So, it's off the table for the time being.

Silver lining: They didn't hire someone else for something I was obviously qualified to do, and there's a very slim chance (although I refuse to let myself believe it) that the subject will be revisited in the coming months.

2) Apparently, despite no family history of it, I have vitiligo. As some of you know, I developed some itchy patches of skin on my legs and elsewhere that were depigmented. All cursory research I did about vitiligo didn't mention anything about it starting out as a rash, but after my dermatologist visit this morning, it appears that's what I have. So, I now have to have some blood tests to check for a thyroid condition or some auto-immune disease.

Silver lining: it's not cancer, and I had a physical the other day which showed that I have perfect blood pressure. I had to have blood drawn for that this morning and hopefully I won't have to get stuck again for the new tests ordered by the dermatologist.

So that's my big news. I'm in a bit of a funk as a result, as you might guess, but I'm trying to keep things in perspective. Things could obviously be worse. I'm still not in a very good mood right now, though.

Singlespeeding Is Dead

I'm not ready to write about my Singlespeed World's trip. I'm afraid that, like many post 24-hour racers, I have a bad taste in my mouth about it because it's too close to feel the enjoyment at this point. Truth be told, the weekend pales in comparison to Aviemore last year, but the bar was set so incredibly high during that trip that I'm not sure anything can top it.

There are plenty of people who have good things to say about Napa and SSWC08, I'm sure. I certainly did manage to have some fun. But, I can't help but feel disappointed by the whole thing. Maybe it's my fault that I didn't find more enjoyment. I didn't go into the weekend with a sour thought about it. I was actually really looking forward to it. In the end though, Napa is not a place for the outdoorsy at heart. As a result, there was a shadow of being outsiders (pun intended) that seemed to loom over everything. I suppose this is the singlespeed way though, so maybe I shouldn't whinge about it.

The trouble is that singlespeeding appears to have died. There were lots of people there, but where were all the singlespeeders? Where were the late light festivities that take over a town? Where were the various groups gathered at the local watering hole? Where were the parades of bikes on the street at all hours? Where were the Surly boys? WHERE ON EARTH WAS THE LATE NIGHT, DOWNTOWN DERBY!? As The Most Beautiful Man in the World pointed out, Napa is not the place that a bunch of dirtbag bike riders are generally seen, and it showed.

I could have happily spent my whole time in Santa Cruz riding around the trails there that I love, and exploring new ones.

The upside of the trip was very obviously getting to see the Brit Brood. It was so nice to have everyone on my side of the pond and in an area that I am familiar with, for once. I finally got to repay a very small fraction of tour guiding and chauffeuring kindness that so many have shown to me.

And dinner at Cosentino's place (Incanto in San Fran) was...Well, Sara put it best when she said that it makes you not want to eat anything else because you know nothing will be as good.

I'm posting out of order again. I should really summarize my early August before this. Maybe I'll get round to that when I write UK Snippet #2, if there is one.

Oh, here: I was in Madison for a very long time. Then I went to California.

Hooray! Job done. More to follow.

Maybe.

Or not.

I saw sheep in Napa, so that was good.

Sheep Are Great, and Bikes Are Ace.