Tag Archives | feeling mental

A Night in 2008

Last Sunday evening I sat in my chair1 sipping a beer and thinking about the week ahead. It was only about 6 PM or so and it was completely dark. This is of course is not unusual for this time of year, but it can be a shock to the system given that I live in an area of the country where it often stays daylight until nearly 10 PM during the summer months.

I’m not sure if it was the Backwoods Bastard, the early darkness, or the fact that I had the volume up to eleven (one louder than 10) on the TV but I found myself thinking back to a ride I did in late October of 2008 when I was still living in White Oak, PA.

It was an ill-advised solo night ride that started at the Boston trailhead of the Great Allegheny Passage rail trail. The plan was to ride the trail down to Sutersville, then hop on a shitty paved farm road loop for a few miles before heading back to the trail. The mileage would be roughly 33 miles, and almost entirely in the dark.

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Short and Unsweetened 

Wednesday morning brought sunny skies but cold temps and a steady wind out of the west. Motivation to ride was high, motivation to ride in the cold wind was low. A compromise in the form of a Better Than The Trainer Ride™ was made. Who says you can’t have it all!

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Good Bad Timing

After multiple days of rain and mud the conditions turned optimal for a dirt road ride south of town on Thursday. While conditions were indeed optimal, it also coincided with our first heavy frost of the fall. Shit be freezin’.

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Missed Goals & Other Things

Back in early 2017 I had a doctor’s appointment in which I was encouraged to think about losing a few pounds. In turn, I cut back my liquid calories (beer), tried to control my portion sizes, upped my mileage on the bike, and flirted with the goal of 5,000 miles by January 1, 2018. That resulted in losing almost 15 pounds by my next visit in early May. I was stoked, at least for a little while.

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Finding the Positive

You might not know it from the shit I type on this digital fish wrap, but these days I really do try to look on the brighter side of things. I’ve lived so much of my life ashamed, depressed, moody, and bitter that sometimes it’s easier just to be Moody Bitter Guy rather than someone who can legitimately weigh the pros and cons of a situation and then make a rational, sane judgment. In other words, I’m learning how not to be an asshole.

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The Post Since The Last

At the end of my last post I mentioned that I was getting ready to head up to MMCC to ride some singletrack. I did, it was fun, and unbelievable that it happened nearly a week ago. I got sidetracked, then did other stuff, then got busy, then got sidetracked again. In this post I do some catchup with riding and life, mostly with the use of photos.

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Suffered 16

I took today (Thursday) off the bike for a couple of reasons:  1. I needed to get some shit done and 2. Wednesday’s ride sucked, sucked real bad and I wanted a break. I should clarify that the ride didn’t suck, the bike didn’t suck–I sucked!

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The Last Two

The promise I made to myself to get back into the routine of riding and writing was short-lived. The riding part held up, but I fell short with the writing. I got caught up in processing photos from last Thursday night’s Alma MTB Time Trial, riding, taking and processing my own photos from rides and a rainy Saturday hike. There was also some bitterness and depression, too many beers, and bidding farewell to my friend Mike at his memorial service on Sunday.

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