Motion

Motion.

The feeling I get when in motion is unmistakable.  The thrill of the ride, the freedom of the drive, even waking up in a moving bus.  As long as I'm in motion, it's all good.  I've packed a mess of motion into these last two weeks.  65 mile 'cross ride/race, Appalachain Trail hike/run, mountain bike rides, beach run, paddle boarding, road rides, dirt biking and other things I can't remember.  Motion, for me, is my neutral state.  That's probably why meditation and yoga are so profound for me (and so difficult to do) and why I can't seem to bring myself to pick up fishing.  Slowing it all down, lying on the beach reading with my wife or sitting through a movie, takes incredible discipline.  Travel and touring, riding and running energize me, it's gas in the tank.  

Cross the Mountain

Devils Backbone Mountain Cross tomorrow.  65 miles, 2 climbs with 20% grades, and two category 1 climbs, definied as climbs between 6 and 12 miles in length with 3,000 to 5,000 feet in elevation gain.  I took out the One Speed cross bike yesterday to determine if I had any chance of making these climbs.  The answer is a resounding no.  I should be riding this:

instead I'll be riding this:

actually not too different.  but enough to make me long for an upgrade.

Sunday, it's a moto ride.  Looking forward to this for a long, long time...

Swing

My wife played in the Wayfaring Strangers for a short time. She said John was always super kind to her. Here's a great swinging solo by John and some lovely singing.



I have risen! and it's almost 60 degrees, the sun is shining and I've got singletrack 400 vertical feet from my door.  One Speed is right!

Passing

A lot of people seem to be moving to the beyond these days. Earl Scruggs, Micah True and now, out of the blue, John McGann. This life is short, whether you go for 10 or 100 years, it's not a lot of time. I woke at 3:45 to take a leak and decided to bag the group ride I was planning for today. The legs were stiff, the wife was sick and I couldn't bear the thought of driving 4.5 hours when I have all this beauty around me, right out my door. My lifestyle, the schedule, doesn't allow much dawdling. I've been in the house for a little over 3 months and still haven't gotten the garage in order. It's the last room in the house that needs attention, and for a guy like me, it's probably one of the most important. Time is at a premium here in Nelson, and while that should encourage me to setup my work space, it's more likely to cause me to dig the dirty bike out from under the piles of stuff and ride it, rather than invest time preparing a space to work on it.

So the question of how to spend the time is ongoing. The floors need vacuuming, I've still not put away all the crap I pulled out of the car at the end of tour... but that stuff's not going to get done today, I'm going riding. Somewhere. Because life is short.

VA!

Arrived at our new home in Central VA just before Christmas. Adventures abound. Ran 14 miles of rugged terrain yesterday in 20 degree weather. 4,000 feet of elevation in 3.5 hours. the legs are absolutely destroyed. working on some trails here on the "grounds" today and hoping to get in a long MTB ride tomorrow before I leave for NYC and the Dusters Ski Tour. more to come.

Going Live

spent the week in Asheville working on our next studio record. got in some wicked runs on the local trails, totally hashed out the legs before what I realized today is a 4 day, 3,300 mile "drive" for me. in the van now, headed for Mass for a show, then we immediately head for Nashville. Sarah and I start our Colorado Tour on Wednesday in Durango. I'm taking the 'hopper so there may be an update from the trail. started taking this stuff called diatomaceous earth. it's basically drinking dirt. more on that in the future. maybe.

Stringdusters live album, We'll Do It Live, is to be released at The Festy on 10.7.11, but you can pre-order it now and name your price. seriously, you can pay whatever you want so click that link.

The Devils Backbone Challenge at The Festy is coming up October 9th. I'll be defending my title and I'm offering a free Festy Pass to anyone who beats me in the Single Speed race. you can register here.

legs

they were the heroes yesterday. 60 mile North/South Trail at Land Between The Lakes is no longer on the list of rides that have reduced me to mush. thanks to legs, I returned the favor over 7 hours yesterday. then I went and did about 3000 calories at Wendy's.

 

 

blurry, I know. I swear that's how everything looked.