Showing posts with label Dave. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dave. Show all posts

Saturday, January 5, 2013

Santos Trails And the Endless Descent Dream

Turn, pedal, descend, turn, repeat.

Every once in a while you wake up with no clue where you are, what time it is, or how the heck you got there.  Ever since my diaper wearing drill sergeant arrived in August, those moments have been occurring with more frequency than I’d like to admit.  In that split-second, when you’re perched on the precipice between the dream world and reality, both sides seem equally plausible; and equally absurd.  In those moments your brain scrambles to dissect what was the dream and what reality is awaiting you. 

Was the baby crying?  Was I skiing?  Am I in a tent on top of Lafayette?  Am I sleeping in a chair again?

As I sit here writing about my most recent adventure, I feel like I’m sitting on that divide trying to get a grip on reality.  What the heck just happened?

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Biking Bondcliff

My White Whale

Waterlogged and exhausted from close to 25 miles and 8,000 feet of hiking in the rain with a 30 pound pack it was all I could do to put one blistered foot in front of the other.  Lower back spasms brought me to my knees more than once, but each time I managed to climb back upright on my cramped legs and push on in the rain.

It was the second day of Gered’s bachelor party weekend.  Our motley crew of hikers had set out the previous day from the Lincoln Woods visitors’ center intent on completing the famed loop around the Pemigewasset Wilderness. We were supposed to climb up onto the Franconia ridge, march past Garfield and eventually descend down off of Bondcliff. 

We had failed miserably.  And now the Wilderness Trail was having its way with us.

Friday, January 6, 2012

Flor'Easter: Day 10- Balm Boyette:

Running Ridgeline.

I started into my dive and the familiar tug in the pit of my stomach made me briefly consider clenching the brakes. However, the sandy, wet concrete honeycomb holding the trail together wouldn’t tolerate even the slightest braking. It threatened a fishtailing disaster to those who dared to defy its pull.  As my speed exploded and I neared the bottom, I felt the bike drifting to one side of the track.  I was headed off of the safety of the honeycomb toward the sandy rock strewn edges and certain ski-season-ending catastrophe.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Flor'Easter: Day 9- Alafia Trails - Transformations

Don't take that corner too quickly.
I know, I skipped a day.  Sue me.

My Florida adventure moved to the Gulf coast where I met up with an old friend, Dave, who showed me around his home course: Alafia Trails in Lithia, Florida.  It was a day of celebrating transformations and new beginnings.