Trips
Every now and then I get lucky, and get to take a trip centered around cycling.
- June 2010 : Thinking about a trip of the the Kingdom Trails in Vermont. Would be my first trip, but I have some NE-PA locals who have gone before that are interested in returning. Stay tunes.
- March 2009 : For my third return to the sunny trails of central Arizona, I conspired and convinced to get some friends to follow me from Texas to attend the annual Arizona Spring Fling. Do you want to know more?
- March 2008 : Guess what, I finally managed to get out to the Arizona Spring Fling. A few scant months after being in AZ in December I was able to go enjoy four days of epic riding. I probably don’t have the time to go back and find the post-ride write-ups (although I found a bit of a one here), however much of the trip photography is available over at our Smugmug album.
- December 2007 : I found myself between jobs, with pay, and with a very tolerant Wife I went on a 20 day road trip around the southwest USA. I rode (and did some skiing) in west-TX, NM, CO, UT, NV, and AZ. I met cool people everywhere, and did some great soul searching and restoration. Wife was unbelievably awesome to support this! So go read all about it.
- March 2002, 2004, 2005 – Moab Utah with the Church of the Knobby Tyre!
The March 2002 trip was my first MTB focused road-trip, some friends took me along with them to Moab Utah for a whole week of epic riding. This trip was pivotal in fueling my cycling obsession, whether this was good or bad for my marriage remains to be seen. It has been great for my health. After two days of riding I could barely walk properly, and it was all I could do to get out of bed in the morning and get moving – but get out and get moving I did! I remember so clearly that the first ride was a 32 mile loop starting with a 10 mile 6%-average grade climb. I cursed Glen “The Machine” the whole time, in a good way, because he literally rode laps around the group.
At the end of this trip I vowed to get stronger merely because I wanted to be able to go and participate in a trip like this and purely enjoy every day, being out on the bike between 4 and 8 hours at a time.
In this, I succeeded, as others have noted. I quote my dear friend Nando when he said after the completion of the 2008 AZSF trip a few years later …
DO NOT underestimate Bear’s willingness and capacity for riding for days on end. Relentlessly.