Bring Your Gravel Bikes

My first fascination with pedaling the dirt began in 1973 while I was living in Bodfish, California (Kern River drainage). My road bike was of department store vintage, made in Japan and was equipped with unusually wide 27 inch tires. The paved road around Lake Isabella was the obvious first choice for an ambitious bicycle ride. Traffic was light unless you were on the southside of the lake. Like most road rides you held your breath on the busy stretches, hoping that the motorist' heart was full of love for cyclists and that they were paying close attention to the job at hand, driving between the lines. Luck was too big of a factor for my liking so, I started to explore the quiet roads radiating out of the immediate Lake Isabella bowl. Roads that lost their paved surfaces within the first few miles of climbing. I climbed to Saddle Springs, Kelso Valley, Sherman Pass and Breckenridge Lookout. This incredibly inexpensive roadbike was so capable and never intimidated by the various shapes and sizes of rocks and gravel. Well, Chester, California on Lake Almanor, is the entire length of the Sierra Nevada north of Lake Isabella, some 300 miles. We are at twice the elevation and at a more northerly latitude so this really is a different kind of mountain living. Here, fifty years later, the paved roads are busier and the amount of Californians (and Nevadans) that can afford "second" or 'third homes" in the mountains has increased exponentially. So, do you really want to stay on the paved roads?

Aftermath Shock

I'm realizing that we northern Plumas County residents are suffering from "Large Incident Aftermath Shock". White service trucks, tarped dump trucks and log trucks piled high with charred remnants of the life-giving forest that surrounded us, make up 90% of the traffic rumbling down our roads...dirt and macadam....pavement that is potholing and breaking up under the extra weight daily. Reminders are constant and loud. We are no longer being provided oxygen from a million acres of evergreen trees. It's getting harder and harder to breathe with lungs scarred from the 'Summer of 500+ AQI'. We worry about the water. We were always so proud of our pure and plentiful water. Proud of our trees, proud of our pure water, proud of our community, enriched by the availability of outdoor adventure close-by in all directions from our home. Hikes and bicycle rides to remote lakes and meadows less than 30 minutes from home. Now, we get in our motor vehicles and drive for an hour and a half to get beyond the destruction. When we return to our homes we have to receive another kick-to-the-stomach because we have to re-orient through the devastated zone, to our little island of familiarity. We are resiliant, to a degree, but this will be our reality for the rest of our short lives.

Cumulative Stress

Not easy to talk about but, I've been getting angry with myself over the simple little clumsy moves that I have always been good at. Knocked my bicycle over and broke the handlebar end...almost caught it before it slammed to the ground...so mad that I didn't. Trying to fix a leaky faucet yesterday in my bathroom, put it off for a couple of months because I feared an ugly scenario, sure enough...water everywhere, hot water, just because I didn't turn a valve off tight enough. It wouldn't fix...need a new one. So far, I haven't taken it out on the dog or wife but I do beat myself up over my mishaps...and yes, these are minor mishaps. I sought counseling on the internet and found important stories about people suffering from "cumulative stress". Could I possibly be a candidate for this diagnosis? Death and illness in the family, sickness and disease closing in...even right down into your neighborhood? Catastrophic events resulting in death and loss in your region? Ending a career of work that you enjoyed and performed well? Evacuation from your home due to weather events or loss of utilities resulting in unsafe conditions? Well shit, I qualify for all of the causes! One article says, "Take a couple of days off, read a good book."

Happy New Year...Trying Not To Worry

My mother called me a "Worry Wort" decades ago...When I figured out that wort is a barley/hops tea before it's allowed to ferment, I felt much better about this particular criticism. I leave the brewing and fermentation tasks to my old buddy Kenny and his crew down at the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company in Chico. I pay full price for his product and consume at least one a day. I've figured out the wort part but, I haven't been able to shake the worry. Some days the 'worry cloud' hovers directly above me and I have a hard time shaking it. I worry about the business gamble I entered into nearly 30 years ago, I worry about my offspring and I worry about my incredible soulmate of forty-six years. Fermentation of the brain is not the answer...I remind myself to appreciate the incredible experiences and phenomenal health I've been blessed with over the last 72 years. The sun is coming up every morning and water is still the healthiest drink that I enjoy each day... I take my vitamins, give out hugs and laugh about the funny little incidents that happen every day. I think we're going to be good in 2022...as my 96 year old friend Jack W says, "You just have to keep moving forward."

Time To Shift Gears

I don't think I am over-reacting here but I am saddened by so many events that have launched in to our life's path over the last three years. I should just be thankful for the previous thirty years of peace and regularity (not to mention, excellent luck). I am not going to list these events here, believe me they have piled on. From this point forward we need to 'accentuate the positive'. Bicycle riding may be our best therapy. I have recently been reminded about how good it feels to do some regular foot-twiddling. Less standing on concrete and asphalt and more standing on the pedals and climbing in non-charred forests. Yeah, it's time to get serious about selling our business, I'm going to the professionals for consultations on this matter. I own the building, the inventory and the good name. We'll see what we can do to maximize our saddle time during our 'older years'.

For What It's Worth...

I'm thinking that people just need things to look forward to. Could be something big...a trip to Tahiti, a new truck or a bicycle. So, I gave myself a new bicycle. Last year I gave myself a new truck. We are a material society, we Americans... and we need to be entertained. Twenty years ago I took my family to Tahiti. Somehow, I think we have to moderate our American consumptive behavoirs but, I don't think we will. A very high percentage of the peoples on this planet can't even imagine this material lifestyle (that we take for granted) here in North America. We are not going to change unless we have to...and even then we'll be kicking and screaming like spoiled children. Yes, we are spoiled children. Six percent of the world's population and our impact on the life systems of this planet are way out of proportion when you consider that 70% of the earth's population is merely trying to survive from day to day, year to year. I'm thinking that this Swedish child, Greta Thunberg is absolutely on target. Large sweeping changes in our behavoirs are needed if our environment is going to improve over the coming years. All these kids want is something to look forward to, simple things like clean air, pure water and far fewer cancers.