Active Exploration

I watched 24 Solo last night from Netflix. It is a documentary about 24 hour mountain bike race champion Chris Eatough . While most mountain bike films are about "gravity" events like downhill and freeriding, this movie makes racing cross-country for an entire day interesting. On the surface, you wouldn't think that there would be much drama in a race where the contenders can finish 30 minutes or more apart, but the filmmakers do a good job of condensing the important events into a shorter format. They also have some excellent photography, both with helmet cameras and cable cameras. What is remarkable to me is how the guys that do 24 hour races solo are not really in it for the money or the fame, because there is not much of either. They either really like what they do or are extremely obsessed and driven. The amount of pain and suffering that they experience must be astronomical. I would really be interested to know how it compares to the exertion required for the T...

Yesterday I fulfilled a goal for myself of riding to the top of Mount Evans (14,264 ft) from my sister's house in Evergreen, CO (7400 ft). It was a long ride: 36 miles almost all uphill, then 36 miles down. With a forecast for good weather, and the temperature in the 40s, I started out around 7:30 AM from Evergreen and headed up Evergreen Parkway towards Bergen Park. As I was going up the first hills, I started thinking, "This is not going to happen!" I was not warmed up and my legs were feeling tired already. However, I started to get into a rhythm and by the time I turned up Squaw Pass Road I was feeling better. Up Squaw Pass Road was a long grind. The forest changed from mostly ponderosa pine to spruce and lodgepole pine. I was surprised by the amount of development in the area. There are houses all along the road (although mostly hidden) and even a few subdivisions. I wonder what it is like to live at 10,000 feet in the winter. As I was riding, I was slowly w...

Lots of people love cycling. Lots of people love bikes. That much riders can agree on; but then divisions start to form. Some people love mountain biking but don't "get" road cycling. Some people like to ride on the weekends but wouldn't think of commuting on a bike. I don't feel like I fit into any one category of cyclist. I ride on trails with my 2007 Stumpjumper FSR Expert. I ride on the road with my 2003 Allez Elite. I have commuted in the past on a beater bike. I sometimes race in criteriums , cross-country , and in off-road duathlons . I tour by bike; I climb mountains on the road and on the trail . For me, cycling isn't sliced up into smaller and smaller pieces. It's all one whole; one experience that can be approached in slightly different ways. Cycling is a state of mind, but it requires something physical. A bike is a material object - a thing - but it assumes meaning to people because of what it allows them to do. We can speed over the gro...