Depression Stalks Us

Life looks very different when, in the space of three years, you see that you could lose everything. When, the earth under you twists and shakes and rattles everything around you. When, your best friend is told that she has lung cancer, surgery will be necessary. When, a million-acre fire blows into your town and you are evacuated for seven weeks. When, your loved-ones struggle with a deadly virus. When, you are told you have a large tumor in your colon and it'll have to be surgically removed (your doctor says, "You could die on the operating table."). When, you realize that a formidable percentage of your neighbors are politically willing to "throw-it-all-away" by shucking the rules we live by out the nearest window, held open by an abberation called "The Tea Party"...and when, that neighbor's window has encroached 100 yards closer to your own. Life looks very different now...each moment, each day is still a precious gift. Attitudes are adjustable, outlooks are changable..."it could be worse" comes to mind. People are suffering around the world...and even in our own villages, to degrees unimaginable to someone who has been as fortunate as I have been these last 73 years.

The Getaway...Van Life.

Gassed and loaded with everything you'd need for a one week getaway. Like magic, load the wife, load the dog and there we go, up the road...522 miles until empty. Definitely not the "busy season" at the store so, put a sign on the door. We'll return in a week, or more. Not sure what we are going to do if we can't find insurance to cover us while we run a business. A real possibility exists that after thirty years of being open year-around we will have to close for the Winter season. A guy could get used to this version of semi-retirement. I have a backlog of fix-it jobs and "honey do" projects at home. It may be time to catch-up with these. Mid-seventies might be an excellent age to allow and afford more time for freedom to wander. Not an age thing, really. Using a healthy body for hiking, cycling and swimming is a precious gift...you've got to use it while you can.

Ebikes? Quiet...well, not so much.

I've been selling Class One E-bikes for a half dozen years now...no throttle, you have to pedal and 20mph tops. This has helped to keep our shop profitable. The buyers are excited and enthusiastically wanting to get back into cycling. All good and we all think we are enhancing the quality of the environment. We were camped at Cave Lake, Nevada when a couple of families from Alberta, Canada pulled into the sites on either side of ours. Big Trailers, but once they got situated (level and unhitched), they pulled out four E-assist bicycles and donned helmets and launched for a short ride. I said, Oh great, our kind of people... Low-impact recreators. They returned an hour later as we sat down to dinner, all giddy about their outing. Things deteriorted quickly when they pulled out a large generator on a dolly and said, "Everyone bring your bikes over here and we'll get them charged up for tomorrow." Loud and stinky and not fifty feet away. This could take four hours...are you kidding me? I wasn't happy. It was quite a realization...Yes, bicycle people, (ebike people) can be a huge drag on the environment and negatively affect their neighbors...who only seek peace and quiet and a pleasant smelling camp dinner. I've sold a couple dozen of these in the last year...am I responsible for ruining the peace and quiet and air quality of others who seek what I seek?

Silent O'er the Landscape

Silent o'er the landscape, inexhaustible (without exhaust) through the trees, reaching deep into the lungs, as we climb upon our self-propelled machines. And now we roll into our seventies not yet needing a little push, yet, finding strength and extra energy in our ample tush. Poetry? Not exactly...just having fun tapping on the keys.

Bake An Adventure Cake, Sweeten With Wild Swimming

It is finally that time of year, the hiking trails are wide open and the pothole lakes are free of ice. As you have heard (here), we have fifty lakes within twenty-five miles of Chester, California and this year every one of them is delicious and inviting a dip. Most often you and your companions will be the only souls around when you get to the lakeshore...should this be the case, you'll be free to strip down and fully immerse, there's nothing better than paddling around in fresh water without the tugging from a suit...and when you get out you'll dry in an instant. Your hiking clothes will stay dry all day. These waters have been quite sour during the last couple of years so you can understand why there is triple the excitement this year, 2023.

Time To Ride

Here it is, already the second week of May and a seriously frozen morning, once again. The difference being that we are going to experience high temperatures in the sixties for the next couple of days, and then....the seventies. There's only one month of Spring left and it's finally going to feel like Spring. I hear the fantastic old Luca Bloom song in my head, "Get Up On our Bike...The Acoustic Motorbike". One more month of experiencing the joys of cycling as a 72 year old. For many years we'd keep track of our weekly miles...usually between 100 and 200 miles...and on tours (we pulled off several two or three month bicycle tours) we'd easily pedal 600 miles each week. We felt young and springy nearly every month of the year. Some Winters are a real heavy burdon at 5,000ft. in elevation. Every shovel full of ice crystals increases in weight with each and every successive storm and the storms just keep on coming...all the way to middle May. So, yes I am motivated to strike out across the Dixie Burn and take in the new vistas of the high country from my leather saddle. I want to feel the strength build in my thighs to the point where I don't have to shift down to the lowest gear to climb the hill to Sunflower Flat. I want to drink again from the newly re-energized Domingo Springs as my reward for getting there under my own power.