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    August 14

    moved

    lummoxblog has moved
     

    the belcher and the plesko

    so nice to get a ride in before the cold front came in, White Ranch, Belcher Hill, Mustang… Thanks Chris!
    August 01

    story

    good books are about more than they are about
    July 18

    .

    just look up
    July 15

    anti-retreat

    1. It is true, and it has value
    2. Sometimes, I can see it, act within it
    3. To pretend otherwise, is a disservice to myself and others
    July 12

    three

    remember that this world was once covered in snow

    now, it is not.

     

    welcome to three

     

    I can

    Tell it’s

    Summer

    From the

    Size of

    The bugs that fly

    Through my window

    Flying through my window…

     

    Ice Hill starts moderate then after a big left sweeper, it fills in with tree roots and steepness. This steep section may be a challenge in the second chain ring. It may be wise to come charging into Ice Hill in something like 3-5, fall to 2-5 when you must, then begin your fight at 1-5.

     

    The crest will come, chase the end of the grade, chase it back into the middle chain ring. There will be a narrow forested downhill, then fast, open, rocky.

     

    And it feels

    Just like

    The ground

    Trapped in another way

    Just still in the ground

     

    Blue Sky is a power dance. I have to warn you, I have to promise you this; Blue Sky, it is a power dance. Lines that others may not see will present themselves to you. If you ask. If you lead, she will follow. Climb for a bit in this dance, then explode at the level. The forest thickens and the dance becomes intricate, so you must be quick and patient. Then she will ask power of you again. Why sell your soul on Ice Hill when you can dance on Blue Sky? Match what Ice Hill asks of you, be ready for what Blue Sky gives.

     

    so you

    can’t hold

    a star

    in your

    hand though

    at least you

    can hold on to

    another plan

     

    D4. A series of switchbacks will try to hurt your will. Play. It won’t last. A confession, dear reader; all of this is from the perspective of relative ease, not a relentless hell push, and that is precisely the point.

     

    We have all the time in the word

    To get it right

    We have all the love in the world

    To set alight

     

    Just look up

     

    Elk Meadow; a fast, pretty, and smooth, wide single track for the most part, aptly named.

     

    Chainsaw and Flume; Fast, working tightly through trees. You should know this feel by now. Rushing is a trick. Patience. Single-Mindedness. There is a ‘bring it home” feeling that starts to grow here.

     

    Creekside: Challenging because it is fast. Sharp corners and technicals that surprise you. There are smooth lines hiding in this, but you will have to contest fatigue and the urge to finish to find them. If you have done this day right, your work has already been done. Find yourself a point on the active edge, not the resting edge, of balance.

     

    You will finish

     

    You will walk through the gates at the end.

     

    They will scan your number plate and record your performance. You will have done your job, the clock will have done his.

     

    You will be at the edge of forest, a road, and a crowded campground. All bathed in sun. Desolate as I write this, under a half moon, the landscape then will be like a city, full of volunteers, your competitors, your friends, all one and the same. There will be laughter, sounds of exhaustion. I have to promise you this; there will be smiles.

     

    remember, this world was once covered in snow 

     

    lyrics by:

    Silversun Pickups

    The Frames

     

    pictures

    May 12

    theory

    (to be tested)
    fear can be displaced with a combination of understanding and reverence
    May 08

    two abslolutes

    1) You don't understand most of what is happening right now. Not by a longshot.
    2) Things don't stay like this.
    May 07

    ones and zeros

    and so it was that the student asked the master;
    how many of the ones and zeros
    how many of the circumstances and events
    had to line up just so
    to get to this point right here
    to make things precisely as they are?
     
    the master answered;
    all of them
    May 04

    Cumulonimbus

    the next big storm we get
    i am laying down in the front yard
    on my back
    listen to the wind and the thunder
    jets flying low
    on account of conditions
    the raindrops begin
    May 03

    why race

    because from time to time
    there will be things that you want dearly
    and you will have to fight for them
    you will have to listen for a call
    that starts inside you and reaches outward
    racing is good practice

    Turtle

    A vast journey can only be accomplished with small steps, repeated patiently until the traveler has grown as large as his journey. And the traveler is never alone.
    ~Kent Peterson
    May 02

    from which you draw

    life
    (true life, that is,)
    (riding, racing, art, love)
    springs from a field of potential that is
    limitless, boundless
    not miserly, not restricted
    go ahead
    open up
    there is plenty
    April 26

    Rachel Carson

    Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts
    ~Rachel Carson
    pilfered shamelessly from an entirely worthy website: TrailCentral
    March 28

    leadville

    Well I am off to Leadville to the last of the winter bike series up there, should be fun. Weather is highly iffy, chance for rain. What will a snow bike race be like on cross country ski trails in the rain?
    March 26

    .

    behold; the opportunity to do things well
    March 25

    rwe

    I am God in nature
    I am a weed by the wall
    ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
     

    shoulder

    ~fiction, short story~

     

    the first thing is the sound of a car approaching at highway speed.

     

    I open my eyes, the world is horizontal. A close-up view of a broken and worn white paint stripe. Gravel and asphalt. The car is a blur of blue and chrome as it speeds by, and it kicks up cubes of broken safety glass on the highway. The wind draft of its speed passes over my face.

     

    This can't be good. How did I get here?

     

    I can feel the sun on the left of my face, the earth on the right. I am to hot and to cold at the same time. I am not thinking straight. How did I get here? What kind of shape am I in? Am I just a head on the side of this highway? Scores of other unpleasant thoughts pass through me.

     

    Another car approaches, but this one stops. Doors open and people get out, I hear something said like “my god…”  I have to get up. I try. Nothing happens.

     

    But I can feel the shape of the desire to get up, and desire is not there yet.

     

    And just like that, it’s easy to know; every time I have tried to move something, to do something, there is the mechanical connection of muscle and nerves, and there is the desire to have it done. Everything. Every motion. Maybe even the beat of my heart.

     

    If I could just get a handle on that, the desire to get up, off this highway, out of this… bad predicament...

     

    But the desire won’t budge.

     

    I lie there, thinking of the thing I could feel the shape of so clearly.

     

    desire

     

    Is it my job to move it? Or it’s job to move me?

    March 23

    .

    i am where i am at, it has to do with weakness
    i am where i am at, it has to do with strength

    the nature of power

    to be developed
     
    ..a consistent nature, throughout, wherever it appears;
    Jet engines, diesel locomotives, the human heart (both mechanical and transcedent), the seasons, rust and decay.
     
    It rises, then settles to its steady state, at harmony with what it has been set to do.
     
    Understand it fully once; and you can see it again, in many things.
     
    Turn your back on it; it is better that you hope for nothing