One of the many things I like about taking a long ride, run or hike is that it purges my mind of life’s daily distractions — bills, deadlines, squirrels. The resulting void clears vital space for creative thinking, for random thoughts, ideas and whatnot to bubble up from the subconscious and get some air time. Usually, this is good thing. Sometimes it is not.
Category Archives: Cycling
Paradise: If you have to ask …
I needed a water bottle. I wound up contemplating the price of paradise.
Packing for a week of backpacking last night, I could only put my hands on one Nalgene bottle. My MSR water filter screws into Nalgene water bottles, making an otherwise annoying task – pumping water from a stream – slightly less annoying. Since I was leaving town early this morning, I’d have to pick one up on the road. Which put me standing in front of the somewhat new REI in Asheville late this afternoon.
Coping with Standard Time: Mountain biking at night
When I saw that Jeff LeBlanc was leading our ride, I knew that whatever he said was going to happen on the ride would be what would happen. Rare in group riding circles and reassuring, especially since this ride was at night, on mountain bikes, through twisty trail in the forest. While I’d done night rides before, this was a first for my 14-year-old stepson. The fewer surprises the better, and I knew from experience that LeBlanc, a retired Marine remained possessed of Corps discipline.
MPB (miles per burrito)
While fact-checking (yes, bloggers fact check) a post that will appear next week, I ran across a curious aside noting that “the most fuel-efficient vehicle available — the bicycle” gets “30+ miles per burrito.”
Frankly, that seemed conservative to me. Granted, it was unclear whether the author was burning a basic 350-calorie burrito from the dollar menu or a higher-octane version, say, Moe’s 950-calorie Homewrecker. Still, an assertion was made. So I Googled “energy from a burrito.”
“Race Across the Sky” — the marathoner’s antidote
Of the many cool things in “Race Across the Sky,” a documentary about this summer’s Leadville Trail 100 mountain bike race won by Lance Armstrong, one thing in particular sticks out. As Armstrong and the other elite riders in this endurance race reach the turnaround, a dirt cul de sac atop a barren dome, a 12,750-foot summit reached after 7 miles and 3,000 vertical feet of climbing, they must pass the other riders as they head back to the finish in Leadville. Superhuman racers such as Armstrong and six-time LT 100 winner Dave Wiens, about who will both complete the race in under 7 hours, will brush shoulders with folks who will take nearly twice as long to finish, not to mention the 500 or so who will have to abandon. As the two distinct worlds pass one another, words of encouragement are exchanged in both directions.