Leaders, Followers & Drifting

 

An early morning on the Six-13 - Out at the point.

Things you don't say

I've made a few trips around the sun - like a lot. During that time I have learned the importance of observation, versus jumping to conclusions and judgement. One of the things I have learned is how to spot those that truly lead as opposed to those who simply follow. Contrary to cultural mythology, leaders are not necessarily "Type-A", or "alpha-dogs". Often they are unassuming, but deliberate. I have also learned (the hard way) to be leery - rather to steer clear of those individuals that say it out load (they are leaders). Those are the ones that get everyone killed to feed their self-righteous ego. History is full of these types. Simon Sinek has pushed the idea that leaders "always eat last". There is a lot of truth to this and is not limited to actually the meal time activities. There are those that are first in, last out and never above the smallest task. Again, this is not to be confused either with superb military strategists, but individuals that their very presence is enough to elicit your own self confidence. In the end it is never and I do mean never, the things a person says. In some cases it may not even be what action a person does, but rather who they reveal themselves to be. Charisma aside, its that person you would instinctively follow out (or in) of a burning building without having to be told to do so.

Things to know

At some point, in fact the majority of the time, even leaders have to follow someone else. But that whole "following" thing gets a bad name, as it implies weakness and lack of direction. Many a business has been built on the idea of "building leaders", with the idea a person has to be broken down and learn to follow before they can be taught to lead. This idea that you can pay a pile of cash to someone else to make you a leader flies in the face of the laws of nature. Corporate culture, the military and virtually every other organization is full of what I call cardboard leaders - people that are placed into positions of "authority" as a matter of "the process". This is largely why I personally left the corporate world after nearly four-decades. At any given moment (don't wait until the end of the day), a person needs to know why they are doing what they are doing. Are you fighting for someone else's misguided cause, or does that guy with the red flowing hair and very nice uniform actually know what he is doing (my little Big Horn reference)? Who's water are you carrying and why? Does that person (or people) that claim to be leading really believe they're acting in your best interest, or do they tell you your fall will benefit those who survive. Military history is full of these stories - again the British slaughter at Anzio comes to mind. Don't assume you are a follower and have to charge the machine gun nest for the benefit of those that will survive. Rather, consider what the objective really is and figure it out. And by the way, feeding the "machine" is never a worthy objective. Put your time, effort and blood into that place where it makes the most difference - and that is NEVER carrying the water for someone who tells you that your sacrifice is needed for the others that will follow. In doing what really matters, you will be a leader without ever having to be recognized as such.

Have a Purpose

Know why you are doing what you are doing - at all times. Have a tangible purpose to operate. All thrust and no vector is how a balloon operates. Don't blow it for the sake of doing so. Look at what you have done at the end and assess if it was truly worth your energy to have done so in the first place. Time is a funny thing. It is irrevocable and non-refundable. Are you willing to give it away so cheaply. Would you give away your last twenty-dollars without considering where it was going? Stop giving your time and energy away to things that advance other peoples causes unless you are willing to let someone else own you in the end. That isn't the same as asking "what's in it for me", but maybe you should know who is getting the cheaply sold commodity of your own time and effort. Do everything in your day with a purpose.

A Sister making a huge difference....

If you have been following this effort over the years, you certainly know how a couple of my sisters are regular contributors to the Porpoise thing. This year has been no exception. This sister is perhaps the meaning of even-keel and steady. Always a constant in the universe regardless of the surrounding environment, she is virtually immortal - kind of the Dick Clark of her own day. Ageless and reliable. Never one to seek attention, but always on station regardless of the situation. Without any prompting this year (as the whole Porpoise thing has been rather dormant), she has again jumped in for the swim - in a very big way. I have also related this story as how one of my most memorable Christmas exchange gifts was the album from 1976. Still one of my favorites mainly for being a gift, much less the content of the vinyl tracks themselves. As I write this, I'm listening to a random shuffle and the title track just came on. I do not believe in coincidence. Thanks Sis! Dick Clark could never have been as cool as you.

Click here for "Band On the Run"  

Important update in a few days....... Until then

Ride HARD!

In Between Places

Atop the Avon Divide Road

 Breaking Stuff

I've been putting more miles on the hardtail than the road bike this year. That was until I broke another spoke on the drive side of the rear wheel - AGAIN!  Right at what I was planning to be a 4 hour tempo ride across the valley, "PING" - that too familiar sound of a spoke breaking at the J-hook. Only a few miles from home, I had to do a soft pedal back to the casa. I pulled out a bullet proof set of DT Swiss dirt wheels and made up a set with some cross country dirt tires.  These wheels have a straight pull-through spoke that is less susceptible to failure. Great racing stuff. About an hour later, I was out riding hills with dirt tires. A couple days later I setup a set of trainers for the road bike and made a quick once over check of everything on the old road bike. Truth is, that thing is getting old and worn out. I realized the tune up I gave it last year was.....not so good. I used the wrong cable guides for road shifting cables - leading to less than desirable results. I also had to replace the carbon-fiber seat post - AGAIN. This may be the last year for that bike, as tech has really changed in the past few years. Add to that my riding posture has also changed, I should probably make a change.

Skeet Shooting

The picture above is on the Avon Divide Road, about 1/4 mile from the top. Somewhere there is a picture of some of us skeet shooting at this very spot, 40 years ago, nearly to the day. This was at a very pivotal time in my own life, as I had spent the previous nearly two years in a downward, self destructive pattern of behavior. Neck deep in what I thought was the end of the world at that time, I was told some critical information about events that had occurred two years before, without my knowledge. The events that led up to the moment two years early is what set me off on my downward trend. It was only a few days before going skeet shooting at this particular place, that I was briefly made aware of a very critical detail. Some ships just have too much inertia to stop and turn - as was my case then. It got me to thinking of what I was doing and what choices I had yet to make. I wouldn't say I had an awakening, but I can tell you it was definitely a moment that changed everything going forward. I never did get the full story of what actually happened two years before. Sure, it still haunts me, as I tend to think of the worst scenarios - but somehow things only now are beginning to make better sense. Like I said, somewhere there is a picture. I'm just not sure the story will ever be fully told - as is life.

a calm morning at the point.

Competing Schedules

This consulting thing has really taken off. In the process it has also began eating away at my time to train - or pretend to train. For the past four-weeks I've had to drive to a site in Southern California, do some work and immediately turn right back around to go home. Typically out and back in about 24 hours with little to no sleep. Not only does that cut into my time for training, it completely wrecks me for the next couple of days. Needless to say, everything has been at a minimum training-wise. A lot of intervals. A lot of hard and quick, short duration sessions of just about anything. I'm not sure how well it is doing, as I have no metric to compare against yet. With the Cache Century in just over a week, that may be my only real check point.

Leadville

A couple of my buddies did make it to Leadville this year. I was supposed to be with them, but that has already been discussed. The event added two new groups, with about 300 more rider than before. Needless to say, it sounds as though things went poorly. Both of them finished, but nowhere near their times from a couple years ago. Of course, Keegan won it again, but fell short of his record - still sub-six-hours. That's five in a row for the Heber Valley kid. Dave Wiens did six in a row before losing to Lance, the year Lance came out of retirement and went back on the tour. Wiens beat him the year before, but Lance crushed the course the next year, having just completed his seventh TDF victory. As Wiens said, "Last year Lance was riding off the couch. This year he was riding off the tour." We'll we know how that ended anyway. Wiens is still an animal, as he was doing it on a 26" bike, with crappy tech. That bike Keegan ran this year was closer to a Gravel Bike than a mountain bike - with the absolute techiest tech to be had. We'll see what the off season looks like before we talk about next year.

Not sure why this one seemed to be the pick....

Click here for JD Souther - If your only lonely

Ride HARD!

Having been called out........

A near full moon over the top after an evening of hill intervals.

 You have some s'planin to do Lucy...

So.....it's been a while, like a long while. A lot has happened and a lot more to explain. This goes against everything this blog has ever stood for in the past. It has never been about me, but rather a vehicle to drive the message and provide an easy link to Huntsman. But there have been a few things happen that need to be discussed. So sit back for some "splanin".

Heart Rhythm Issues

Last year, early in the spring, I noticed some variation in my heart rhythm - at odd times. Truth is, it's been going on for a long time, but finally decided to have it checked out. As infrequent as it was (very infrequent), I happened to catch it using my pulse-oximeter and blood-pressure cuff. I was able to get into to see a doctor at the time it was happening, which they were able to diagnose atrial-fibrillation (a-fib). It had some very screwy characteristics as it was a very low rhythm comparatively speaking. Still the rhythm was confirmed. That sent me to an electro-physiologist (EP) to take it further. After wearing a remote pain in the butt monitor for 30-days, they still couldn't capture it. Several other tests indicated my overall heart and cardiovascular system was in great condition - just that pesky a-fib thing that they couldn't capture. The EP is actually a serious cyclist himself as well. I've known him for about 10-years. We've discussed various training methods outside of this situation before. He knows what he is dealing with when it comes to me. He told me to continue my training and plan on doing LOTOJA that September, or to call him if anything changed - with a follow up visit scheduled for a few weeks after the race.

On race day things started out normal, with a group that I knew would get fast going into the 22-mile climb at Mink Creek. Climbing that first hill going into Riverdale, Idaho, I completely went flat. I just assumed it was my poor conditioning and was resigned to catching whatever groups I could going to Montpelier. At Montpelier I was gassed - as in never have I ever felt that bad. I new continuing would mean a hell of a time on my own, with winds straight on going through Star Valley. At that point my gut told me to quit - against all other instincts. I pulled the plug and threw my bike on the truck - it was over. The next day when I docked my Garmin, I had logged 90-minutes in zone-4 with 45-minutes in zone-5. My heartrate peaked at 172 BPM which is completely off the charts for my age - especially for that long. No, I wasn't in danger of a stroke or heart attack, but I was literally running on half a heart for nearly 3-hours. A few weeks later when I met with the EP, he looked at me funny like I was telling him a story. Again, he told me to keep going and let him know if anything changed.

Fast forward to March. With snow still on the ground, I was doing hill intervals on the hardtail trying to get in front of things for the season. On the 8th I did a full session with my heart rate peaking at 157 BPM (low end of zone-5), with 1 minute recoveries at 95-105 BPM - right where it is supposed to be. On the 10th I had been working all day and felt totally gassed, but still was committed to doing hill intervals. I made it through 2 full climbs and was halfway through the third when I decided to call it quits for the night. When I docked the Garmin I saw a sharp contrast to the effort two days before. Peak heartrate was 172 BPM, with the recovery never dropping below 140 BPM. Armed with the graphical data (and I am a data guy), I went back to see the EP. This time he believed me, as I had the graphs to show him. As a matter of urgency regarding the training season, he wanted me in for an ablation in early May. On May 16th, I had an ablation to remedy the erratic and unpredictable a-fib thing. They found no problems such as scar tissue or other damage. The best he could tell me was just a combination of some stupid stuff - like high intensity interval training for years, but nobody really knows for sure. 

After the procedure, I was back on the spin bike less than 2-days later. Back doing hill intervals at normal rate on day 4. After about two weeks, I couldn't get my heart rate above 150 BPM, but my recovery was still spot on. Doing a follow up visit with his PA, it was decided that I should forgo any long distance endurance stuff for 90-days. That put me out of Leadville for sure, but gives me an opportunity to dive back into LOTOJA - albeit with very limited training. If 90-days puts me at around August 14th, that gives me less than one full month of riding to pull off LOTOJA. Basically it is something like 9-days prior to the Cache Valley Century. Sounds a little tight to me - but it's better than nothing. I'm still shooting for it, with key mile-stones and markers to hit along the way.

Putting it all into context

So.... this past spring I went down to see Reed while he was in the rehab hospital at the U. He was there again for over a month, still putting up a fight. He told me they had only given him 6-months to live when he was first diagnosed, but at that point he had already made it 15-months. This during the time I was uncertain about the ablation, as they hadn't even scheduled me yet. In fact, I wasn't sure what my prognosis would be. After a couple visits with Reed and his wife, I really had a glimpse of what a stud he is - being so optimistic. He wasn't pissed off, no little rain clouds, no pity - just happy for each day he had to spend with his wife, even if it wasn't exactly ideal. WHAT A STOIC! And here I was moping about my petty little problems.

I have made this point over and over again. There are people who would give their eye-teeth to suffer on a bicycle by their own choice, versus what they are dealing with. Sure, it's only riding my bike, but I still can ride my bike and by hell I will show up to that starting line with every intention of following through like I have done for some many years. Sure that's a big check for my body to cash, but I do have the capacity to make it happen - somehow.

Being called out

Occasionally we all need to be called out for our inadequacies. In this case, I had been really thinking about it for some time, but really wasn't sure how, or where to start again (writing). It takes a special pain in the "hunna" (as coach Save would like to say) to get a point across. Here's the bottom line; we are all capable of being better than we are. As we get older we somehow believe we don't need to go through the same process of reinventing ourselves to actually be our true selves. Right, sounds backward, but it's true. We sell sell out to the first and easiest thing that comes along - making us feel comfortable. Well...being comfortable will get you killed in nature. You have to really know who you are, not what you want other people to think you are. Be true to yourself - and I mean your real self. Nobody cares if you are a self proclaimed hard-ass. Be what you were built to be - like when you were six-years old. Put away the facade. Drop the mask. So there may be a few scars. Wear them with pride, but don't let them reshape you. The true story of the Elephant Man speaks to this point exactly. An elegant example of presenting yourself as you are and being that person you in fact were born to be. Here were are.........

More updates

In know it is late, but there will be regular updates for the rest of the season - regardless of how everything stacks up. It won't be easy and hasn't been to this point. Stick around. We have a steep hill to climb.......

Going back a few years. Thanks for the reminder "IZ"

Click here for Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World - Israel Kamakawio'ole

Ride HARD! (like you mean it)

Where it all Started

 Spontaneous commitments

I'm not sure of the year, but the image above was from the fist year I chose to ride for Huntsman. My then employer, sponsored a pretty well developed cycling club - within the company. Actually, the group of local riders took things by the horns and developed a club that raised enough money to underwrite all the entries for all Huntsman riders into LOTOJA. The end collective effort raised a ton of money and other support for The Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah. At least one year prior to my initial support of Huntsman, I was asked to represent the company at the awards event the morning after the race. Of course I felt completely out of place, but did the happy face thing for the corporate picture. Somewhere along the line I felt like a taker, not a giver - not a comfortable feeling for me personally. About this same time, several of the guys I would ride with were going their separate ways, leaving me to develop more self-motivation. It seemed like a good idea to jump in with Huntsman, as nobody else with the company had done so prior to that point. So....I jumped onboard and found a new group of friends, not mention a purpose. But that didn't immediately lead to the "Porpoise". Truthfully, I don't remember when the whole "Porpoise" thing came about in earnest. 

That first year was a serious struggle, as miles and motivation were both limited. Somewhere along the way, I had learned that my cousin had been diagnosed with an aggressive type of brain cancer. Without a doubt, that was on my mind throughout that summer. I distinctly remember riding back from East Canyon, coming up and over Trappers Loop, having to grind over the last mile of climbing. It was during that climb I thought of the certain pain and frustration my cousin must be feeling through her battle. I always knew that my pain and suffering could stop by me simply stopping, but hers....well that wasn't case. Fast forward to the evening prior to race day. I usually spend the day going over all the details; kit bags, mechanicals, support crew coordination....all the stuff that matters. Part of that is pinning my bib number on my jersey (which is an art). Here I had this new and never before worn jersey from Huntsman -the first time I wouldn't ride with the company colors. Just out of nowhere came this idea to write my sweet cousin's name on my sleeve with a Sharpy marker. Nobody else knew anything about it, until the next morning when I aske my daughter (part of my support crew) to take that picture and get it to my sisters. I thought maybe they would post it on some type of social media - maybe get back to her as my way of saying "I'd take a bullet for you". Lets not kid ourselves, riding a bike is a long way from taking a bullet. That afternoon, as I rode up Snake River Canyon, I was suffering. Remembering that name on my sleeve gave me the strength to go forward and endure the pain and discomfort. When I rolled across the line in Teton Village that evening, I had my daughter take another picture. From there we were over the mountain to Driggs, Idaho where I could finally take a shower and recover from 204 miles of what I thought was Hell. From Driggs, we drove home the next morning, unloaded all the gear and hung the bike on the wall, for the transition to mountain biking. The next morning while I was at work I received a message from one of my sisters that "Mindy" (as we knew her) had lost that battle.

I don't believe in coincidence.

The next year Melinda's husband lost his battle with the "Big-C". Along the way, I have also lost many -  like way too many, friends and co-workers to some form of this shit. Of course Reed is still fighting like the "Fighting Scot" that he is, but this past winter we lost Mindy's younger sister - Dana. I had no idea that she was in her own battle. I was honored to spend the afternoon of my birthday at her graveside service - and I do mean honored, while  still being completely humbled. It broke me in that same place that I broke when I had received word about Mindy's passing. Since that day this past February I have contemplated a lot of these searing events - knowing how absolutely helpless we all are in the end - ALL of us. You can go back and read too many of my posts that I have mentioned these other individuals in my life that have been blasted by the "Big-C". I stopped by a couple times to visit our Brother Reed while he was in the hospital recently. He has the most remarkable up-beat attitude. Total optimism of virtually everything. The doctors only gave him six months, but like fighters he and his awesome wife are....we'll it's been well over a year and he's not backing down (chalk it up to being a happy warrior). From all of this, I can find strength - strength to accept my petty problems and fight them with the vigor and determination all of these people I speak of have done. Letting them pass without that lesson would be a disservice to anyone of them.

An Early Start on the Hardtail

No, I'm not doing the snow bike thing. Never mind the fact I live right next to a huge snow-bike area and still have that stupid fat-tire bike - I just won't bring myself to doing it. Rather, I've been putting limited and early miles on the hardtail. I'm really getting a good feel for that bike - as well I had better. If I'm going to be successful at Leadville, it will have to be on that bike. But I have a long way to go all the way around. 

Trying a few different things

The road up and over the Avon Divide has mostly burned off this past week. The image above is right near the top, where there is still a little snow, but worse yet - MUD. I've learned that lesson the hard way. I was debating whether to use the full -sus with the gnarly tires, or take my chance with the hardtail and the Serfas Drifters. Well....there she is, Drifters and all. It was a little sketchy, but that bike is so responsive, you can feel it all. Talk about a fast bike; that thing is faster than I'm currently capable and requires a lot more skill than I possess at the moment. Riding my full-sus has made me soft and lazy, letting my already pathetic skills become even more so. I'm debating on adding a dropper-post, as well as upgrading the forks. It definitely needs a bigger front ring to crush the oil sections at Leadville, but I'll need the legs to be able to climb with the loss of the lower end. Basically, I have my work cut out for me. Stick around. Now that I can actually get out more often, this should also precipitate some more frequent posts with updates.

A shout-out

While at the afore mentioned service back in February, I was every so fortunate to have met up with my other cousin Stacy. We are closer in age to each other than the other two sisters. There was a time when our families were pretty close and did a few thing together. As life tends to go, somehow that all kind of ended. The last time we actually were in each others company was spring 1983. Wow, I can't believe it has been a literally a life time. She reminds me of our grandmother - strong, determined and a genuine stud! Hard to explain, but that brief visit opened my eyes and even inspired me. It has made me put a few things into perspective - that I will not elaborate at this point (superstitious). Lets see if I can make the most of that gift. Stay tuned.........

"You're a shinning star, no matter who you are......."

Click here for EW&F - Shinning Star, '75 was pretty good.

 

Ride HARD!

Nothing like the last minute

 

The dreaded snow-bike - somebody's bad idea.

Putting things off too long

Here it is, literally the last minute.....again. I swore Id not let the yearend creep up on me, but who am I kidding. I'll never learn. So which is it, culture or behavior? Either way it is chronic. I could say that my fledgling little consulting business is consuming all of my time, but it is only a matter of priorities - or a simple lack of them. Success cannot not be left to simmer on the back burner, nor can life in general. I've said this too many times, but being comfortable will get you killed in this life and I think I'm getting too comfortable. So now I have ask the question; what is it really costing me? Do I really want to know? I hate the melancholy of the year end.

Early snow and a moon rising over Ben from S. Willard

Running into Reed this evening

Clients have been keeping me hopping - a lot. I have had this past year on my mind a lot in the most recent few weeks. This was especially true of our brother and his fight. I had thought to send him a message, but it just didn't seem to lend itself to he practical, or sincere. Again, I'm just a procrastinator - them's the facts. So.....earlier this evening I was on my way home from a very long day meeting with clients and their "opportunities", when I decided to stop at the Winco in Layton - for whatever reason. I hate shopping and am usually in and out of those places very quickly. As I was pushing the stupid shopping cart, I was looking at what I had tossed in the basket, wondering why it was I needed to stop at all. And then, like out of nowhere - there was Reed pushing a shopping-cart himself. I would never had expected to see him in such a place, but there he was - the same kid from our youth. Still the brightness that I remembered, but yet had also somehow forgotten. We chatted for a minute, but as shallow as the context may have been.....it cut deep. As I stood there I suddenly felt terribly small and inadequate. Realizing how I failed and how I met the meaning of that phrase "chicken-shit". But then I like I always seem to do, looking back at it a short time later, I had to remind my shallow self that its not about me. But there I was sizing up my inadequacy against the strength of a man that is fighting a battle that is more than most of us will ever understand. I don't believe in absolute coincidence, but then why did that have to happen? The message to me was very simple; quit whining, stop pouting and for hell sakes....stop making excuses. In those few words from Reed; he is very grateful, but doesn't take anything for granted (although he didn't use those exact words - but that was his message to me). That is why he is truly larger than life and a truly inspirational person - if we choose to face the truth. So...excuses aside, its time to put down the frivolous and take-up the fight. MAKE IT COUNT!

How I miss that pain.....heading back over Monte from Woodruff.

A couple past jersey sleeves

I have a ton of picts from years past. Some like the one above remind me of what suffering can feel like. Then there are the ones like those below that remind me of how insignificant my petty suffering actually is. Howard D. is my son-in-laws dad. He was fighting his own battle at that time, when his son was my support crew chief. He lost his fight only a few months later. The blue sleeve....well he lost his fight earlier that season. Since then we have lost too many others, Cynthia, Mark and of course sweet Laurie....and those are only a few. So here's the thing, it's time to put things in order and carry that load as if I really mean it at all. But then again, it's not about me. It is about those individuals being THE strength and inspiration. How can I be so ungrateful as to not walk upright and tall in their honor and memory. Afterall, it's not like I'm taking incoming fire or anything like that. I just wilt to the weakness of the flesh. Time to assess and take an inventory. Give it 30 days and then swing back around.

Thanks for putting me in my place Reed. Nothing is by coincidence........

One for the barn....

Click here for a little truth from Paul & Linda (and the boys)

The Porpoise - 2024

Looking for the offramp

When the smallest tree can make the longest shadow on the mountain....

Noticing

The other morning something caught my attention across the mountain, just off the side of the rock face. The conditions had to be exactly right for this to happen; sun very low on the horizon, enough snow to not cover the tree too much, perfectly clear blue sky (a ton of heavy smog/fog in the lower valley) and exactly the right time of the morning. The position of that particular tree atop the crest of a hill, allows its shadow to cast many times longer than the height of the tree itself, whereas the tree directly below can only cast its shadow just over that crest. This will only happen for a few days at most and the conditions have to be exactly right for it to happen - but that day it was very noticeable. That's one of those things in life that come along sparingly.... Catch them when you can. Be larger than your own self, when life permits.

 

In the brush heading up Mules Ear

Seems like a lifetime ago

So much has happened this past summer. Searching through the pictures of this past season, it just seems to have been in another lifetime. Frankly, it was a year worth forgetting. What started out as early optimism, eventually turned into one distraction after another. Stupid unfounded heart issues, followed by structural failures....the summer just got off to a bad footing. Trying to make it up on a short timeframe was not a winning strategy either. Frustration fraught with a bad attitude and that bad attitude really cost me in the end. There weren't nearly enough dirt rides up in the park and the rides on the hard tail was just stacking miles in the end - something I swore off a long time ago. Gone are those days where I would get on my road bike early in morning and disappear until later in the afternoon - spent and burned from a long day just stacking those miles. Perhaps this is what happens when....life happens. Priorities change and before you know it, life has passed you by.

So, what about this heart thing anyway?

Sometime about the middle of May, I started to have what felt like heart palpitations, followed by occasions of lite-headedness when I'd stand up. I keep track of these things and have a cuff and pulse-oximeter. They were telling me my heart rhythm was screwed up, so I decided to go to the clinic and have it checked out. Sure enough, they diagnosed it as atrial-fibrillation. Next stop was the hospital, at which point they hooked we up again and said it was happening while I was sitting there. Funny thing, I didn't feel any different than just normal - like.....lets go move a piano or something like that. What was very unusual, my heartrate was only fluctuating between between 65 - 75 BPM, where as A-fib usually is in the range of 200 BPM. I mean, I do have a naturally low resting heartrate like in the mid to high 40's, but that still didn't make much sense. A couple weeks later I'm in seeing an electro-physiologist, coincidently a hardcore cyclist himself. He prescribed a heart monitor for 30 days - which is such a serious hassle. Through all of that, not a single problem - none at all. He was still pretty skeptical, but told me to go ride and come back to see him a few weeks after the race. On that return visit, I told him that during the race I peaked my heartrate at 170 BPM, was anaerobic for something like 35 minutes and over 2 full hours in transition. When he heard that his eyes got really big and said, something like wow! I was certain he would want to perform an ablation, but he asked a few questions and we discussed training levels further before he told me to go home and stay after it. Call him if something changed, but otherwise nothing to see here. 

Basically, I think I was fighting a bug that caused the irregular heart rhythm, resulting in the fibrillation.  The electro-physiologist says that A-fib is common in amateur endurance athletes, as we tend to stress our hearts - a lot. Professional endurance athletes don't have this problem as they train for 30 hours a week in zones 2 & 3. Regardless, it is a thing to keep in mind and monitor, but I can't let it slow me down. For now, manage the diet and stay diligent. 

Time to wrap it up....

Another week or so, and we'll put this season in the can.....and to the bottom of the ocean. Training plans need to be set out and detailed. Next year has to be something more than ordinary. In fact, it needs to be extraordinary - nothing less. That will require planning, drive, sacrifice and diligence.  A little more on that in the next week or so. There are also a few loose ends to tie-up along the way....so maybe a couple more posts. Until then...rock it wherever life takes you.

Click here for "The Other Guy" - a twelve bar twist to a classic

Keep taking that pull for Reed.

Things are closing down

 

2023 SR39 Monte Cristo, Snow-gate closed late into the year.

Changes and regrets

Yesterday marked the official closing of Monte Cristo. The snow-gate on the west side (Ogden Valley) is at MP 37, whereas the gate on the east side (Rich County) is between MP's 55 & 56. Who's to say what the winter and the spring (for that matter) will bring. It may be mid-June before that gate is opened again. Even if it is a mild winter, DOT won't open it again until sometime in May at the very earliest. It seems kind of silly as they put a ton of money into that road every year, only to have it open for half of the year. Not a lot can be done other than lament the lost opportunities and think of what can be....next time. And there is the phrase that really says it all - "next time". How many times have I personally thought what I would do if I had to do it all over again? Lets not dig up that garbage right now.

Snow to stay

This past week has seen the seasonal snow hit North Fork for the long haul. Temps going into the previous couple weeks we regularly into the low teens at night, meaning a frost was pushing into the soil. The foot of very wet and dense snow we had yesterday is here to stay until spring. I'm still not sure about that snow-bike, but I'm still not giving up on dragging a bike somewhere to get a little riding in before the lower valley is also out of commission for the season. The image above was from a warm summer's evening at the end of doing some hill repeats. Sweating my gut out, glad for the break out of the sun and punishing heat. That seems like a lifetime ago. Now the drill is getting up at 04:00 most mornings to see if snow needs to be moved before starting the day. We could have days where I have to move snow several times, or may not see a storm for months - you never really know how the winter will develop. Meanwhile, keeping atop the task is critical, if not impossible sometimes. Winter can be hard and they seem to get longer as I get older. Maybe I am getting older.....

An August Ride  - Looking toward Randolph from Woodruff.

Too Comfortable

There is this thing phycologists call "Stockholm Syndrome", where a captive takes to defending the captor to the point of even joining the perpetrator in the restraining effort. This was the defense some fifty-years ago when Patty Hurst joined her captors and became a "rebel" herself. I'm not sure I believe that particular case, but I do know it is real. The premise that when a person is a captive and sees their captor as the thing that is keeping them alive, maybe even being protected by said captor. At that point surviving becomes comfortable and survival instincts are reprogrammed. Such is the case for anyone that gets too comfortable, as we can become captive to something that is holding us back. So you have to ask yourself (as I seem to do all too often without an answer), what is that thing that is keeping us comfortable? Truth is, being comfortable is dangerous. Whether it is sleeping-in, eating to excess, clicking on the next video....what is it that keeps us from breaking out of captivity? The first step to any such situation is to fully recognize and accept that it is real. From there must follow a desire to break away. Far too often I personally find myself giving into a situation that in a previous consciousness, I would never have considered. But here I am again. Sound familiar? Eventually I loose my willingness to fight back - something I could never imagine. But I seem to allow myself to be positioned into a corner, back against a wall, having few if any options. This being comfortable thing is too enticing.

Wrapping up in the next couple of weeks....

Looking for a suitable off-ramp. Stick around. Still have some pulling to do.

Classic Jeff "Skunk" Baxter - Click here for "Bodhisattva"

Pulling for Reed! Stick around..