Monday, February 23, 2015

Life seems to be mostly...normal?

   I've really been slacking on writing blogs lately; blame the madness of the 3 jobs I'm juggling this winter (of course I couldn't pick just one or two) and the beautiful but strangely unseasonal weather we've been having making it hard to sit down indoors. It's likely that I have ridden bikes nearly as many days as skied this season with near record low snowfall amounts.
   The house drama of the last 2 years has fully faded out and is replaced with a sense of being at least somewhat settled. I'm getting to know the ins and outs of South Lake, becoming well acquainted with where not to go on crowded weekends, and where to find the best adventures in my own backyard. Finding work has been interesting to say the least, but it's always come together at the last minute and I'm hoping to get settled into a routine sooner or later and not have the frantic end of season scramble for the next season's job.
   It dawned on me recently that I've been able to do most everything that I enjoy for the first time in a couple of years without worrying about aggravating this or that injury. While riding to and from running errands in town, I was struck by the joy of simply pedaling on a bicycle again to get from place to place. Occasionally my hip aches a little bit but less and less as time goes on, an indication that spending time in the gym with a trainer is doing exactly what it is supposed to do. That was a bigger financial commitment than I wanted to make, but with the alternative being more struggles with injuries, I was good and ready to try something new rather than following the same dumb pattern over and over again.
    It feels amazing to be able to ride bikes and also have the social aspect of riding be a part of my life again. I am finding out, just as should be expected, that I'm a heck of a lot slower than I was before everything happened. Frustrating as it is to eat dust following my friends on the trail, I know I'm on the right track and have to stay positive about it--which isn't that hard to do with a silly singletrack-induced grin all over my face.
   And now, I leave you with a few photos from the last dirt bike trip to Black Rock Desert:
Hot springs at Soldier Meadows campground.

We were hoping to ride up High Rock Canyon road but it already closed for the season. It is really spectacular!

Lots of empty space, nobody out here but us and a few herds of bighorn sheep way off in the distance.

Smooth dirt, a nice break from the rocky ride the day before.

The water- and time-sculpted rock of Fly Canyon.

Somewhere up in the Calico Mountains.

Obligatory playa shot.