Routinely...

I rise between 5:45 and 6:15am on most days...I find Birkenstocks or Crocs for my stair descent...fourteen of them to the Great Room, where I probably left my pants. Into the kitchen and straight to the coffee pot. I grind my own and get water out of the tap, it's fantastic water...only tainted for one week (after the one million acre Dixie Fire) out of the forty years we've lived in this watershed. While the coffee is brewing I sit down with my Ipad and a cup of yogurt. I look for stories about geologic events, re-wilding, environmental challenges, people surviving cancer and last of all, worldwide political unrest. I struggle to stay out of the Donald Trump 'rabbit hole'. The man loves attention and I'd rather not give it to him. I check facebook to see if my people are OK and then pull on socks and shoes for a hike in the woods outback with my pup. This is how my day starts outdoors, a one or two mile hike with a Black Diamond hiking stick and my Labrador. A small window onto my daily routine.

Little Short on Oxygen

When you relocate from the lowlands to 4,500ft. you definitely notice the lungs laboring to deliver enough oxygen to make the hillclimbing (say, to 8,500ft.) pleasurable again. I love climbing on my bicycle. After a month of high country living and exercising the two percent loss of available oxygen is hardly noticable...unless, let's just say that nearly every tree within a ten mile radius of your town burns, leaving a forest of charcoal statues as far as you can see. The village of Chester harbors a small island of green that processes carbon and delivers oxygen. The Dixie Fire of '21 incinerated 96% of the trees that oxygenated our daily activities previously. The views of Lassen Volcanic National Park are stupendous and panaramic to the north. We really couldn't appreciate the wall of high country that stands proud above Chester when we were enveloped by tall fir, pine and cedars. Now we 'make do' with less oxygen and broader views.

Epiphany While Pedaling

Forty years ago this month, I am pedaling up Hwy 32 out of Chico, Ca. with my friend Ed. At Santos Way we swerve to miss a shattered brown glass bottle with a SNB Pale Ale label still intact. Ed Mc Laughlin was a unique character... His reactions were quick and he vocalized what was on his mind instantaneously. "That sucks, we did that!" I worked at Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. for it's initial five years. Ed would fill in on the capper, washer, labeler when we got in a bind and needed more hands, which was often. "This motorist was not only drinking our ale while he was driving, he slammed his empty onto the shoulder of our favorite bicycle ride." We were sure that SNB drinkers were far classier and more intelligent than that. "This was an act of meaness. We made this possible." In five years of running the Fritz Maytag-gifted bottle washer i calculated that I had hefted one million bar bottles into this hungry machine...twelve at a time with grippers in each hand. Of course, Ed was right. We were responsible for this alcohol-primed behavoir and here it was coming back on us as we recreated. During the last six months of my employ at SNB, I couldn't put this realization behind me.

We Need To Invest A Lot More Time Into Foot-Twiddling.

April, nearly every day in the longterm forecast is predicted to be in the 60's, even 70's toward the end of this month. The snow has melted back to the 7,000ft. level, the mud is drying up below that elevation. We have various genres of bicycles, all begging for use. The days are longer and we are working no more than part-time. No excuses. We could easily pedal 100 miles a week. Forty years ago we managed to ride 200 miles a week, even though we worked full-time. Cycling or foot-twiddling is an effective way to unclutter the mind. No need to ride hard or fast, just invest the time...saddle-time. We like Yoga. We love hiking but, there's nothing quite as cleansing as exploring the backroads and trails on two self-propelled wheels. Saddle-time may cause you pain during the first two weeks. Nothing that chamoix-lined shorts and a little Bag Balm can't solve.

What A Great Run We've Made

Thirty-one years on April 2 since we made our first lease payment on Bodfish Bicycles and Quiet Mtn. Sports. We moved across the street nine years later, purchased a building that had previously catered to automobiles. Independant bicycles dealers are on the ropes, as are most independant small businesses. Big Box, catelog and Internet based sellers have won the customers. The corporate suppliers are struggling to live up to the arrangements they promised their Asian 'overlords'. So, they really don't care as much as they used to about America's privately owned bicycle shops. In fact, they are working as hard as they can to cancel the independant bicycle dealer. The Trek Corporation is buying up the larger college- town shops and they're selling their wares through their professionally designed websites, sometimes at lower prices than they charge their small dealers. None of it makes sense to me. I suppose everyone can learn to fix their own bicycle challenges on YouTube. We did perform services from our hearts and with skilled hands and alert minds for over three decades...and that makes me proud.

Pranayama and Foot Twiddling, On My Bicycle

My bicycle rides have been short but frequent this Winter. Two miles or twenty miles can provide plenty of time for deep breathing and meditation. Smooth pedaling and less effort feels right. I'm thinking that riding my e-assist 'fitness bike' has taught me to do less pushing and more gliding. I'm realizing that I've experienced a certain degree of 'hill dread' over these last ten years. However, I've always said that 'I love hills'. Fitness bicycles (flat-bar road bikes) with liberal gearing have always allowed me to enjoy climbs. Class 1 electric-assist bicycles (no throttle) have encouraged better breathing and a more relaxed mind while cranking upward. Riding bicycles for 70+ years seems natural and safe. I prefer cycling over walking, running or driving. It's always been my favorite means of locomotion. I am hoping to continue cycling well into my eighties. Better breathing and smoother rolling should help guarantee hundreds of miles of two-wheel adventures in the years to come.