Bedrock & Paradox

Courtesy Mike Curiak, from the Iditirod Trail race in years past. Black and white is good stuff.

Through mysterious circumstances at work, I have Monday off. So, I’m headed off to the Grand Canyon tomorrow for a three day solo backpack. I haven’t been backpacking in ages, given that overnighting on the river last September to alpine-start Choprock doesn’t really count. And solo backpack, I can’t even recall. Solo backpacking is freaky…

The course map. The 5.4 “crux”, freesoloing in running shoes after a ton of hard up.

I gave up. Julie wins, and is back to a singlespeed. More filing the cog and messing with the chain yielded no results, and brought me up against my prolegomena to any future cycling: I am a poor mechanic with a limited tolerance for tinkering. A character flaw, yes, but so be it. I’m going…

In February 1994, after 18 months of research, Unibroue launched La Fin du Monde (the end of the world). It is a 9 percent alcohol, triple fermentation beer. This type of beer was originally developed by the monks of the Middle Ages to be served on special occasions. La Fin du Monde is a deluxe…

My legs are feeling quite good. I can bound up and down stairs as normal. All signs that hiking was the right choice, that no real damage was done. About that I am very happy. I got distracted from filling the Endless again and messed with my project frame, an old Specialized mountain bike I…

I’m beginning to look at how far I can go, and it looks good. When I commence my course of full force strengthening and rehab next week, I’m going back to the Red Hot next year, and going sub-6 hrs. And there I go fucking it all up by attaching a goal. Weak. I love…

Real deal (you guessed it) tomorrow because I’m (yep) tired. Smoked the first half, old knee issues came back a bit near the top of the Gold Bar climb, so I decided to hike the rest to be safe. Succeeded, though I had to run the technical bits of the Poison Spider descent; blowing by…

Don’t expect to see a computer until Sunday evening, so, off it is. Yesterday and today are final prep time: finished up a bunch of odds and ends at work, sat around, am finalizing the iPod all hits all the time list, and will eventually pack. M is unemployed at the moment, so delegation is…

Suffering becomes beautiful when anyone bears great calamities with cheerfulness, not through insensibility but through greatness of mind.-Aristotle Happy Valentine’s all! I think I did ok and suggested M pick out a new tree for the deck yesterday, an Arizona Cypress. Romance is in idiosyncrasy, in the details. Game time is approaching. Working on lots…