Saturday, February 26, 2011

Being outside

I have been reading up on bike a lot lately. My brother and his girlfriend are doing a tour of Napa Valley and need some help getting bikes and touring gear together. I feel like a kid in a candy shop with every bike parts website and shop I look at.
Damn, I love bikes. I love them a lot and I feel so blessed I get to go to mechanic school in a two months and learn more about them. What a fine machine. Looking back into the memory banks of my mind, some of the best and most calming moments are those associated with riding my bike. Even in Europe, where I was miserable, I was so happy to be riding my bike and seeing the country side of Bavaria. What is there not to love about bikes?
I went to the climbing gym on Wednesday and had a bonfire ignited inside me that I can't seem to put out. I forgot how much I loved climbing and how good it makes me feel. I have had some great moments at the crag with friends; night climbing in Logan Canyon, learning how to lead with Annie, getting lost in the City of Rocks, climbing at the only crag in Kanab, Utah with my crew from UCC.
Since Wednesday I have been doing some research on where I want to climb this summer. I don't want to put climbing on the back burner again, I bought a 70 meter rope for a reason. There are three big spots I want to hit in the next six months; City of Rocks, Triasic, and Moab. I want to get back in touch with climbing on a bigger level. Not a First Assent kind of way, but a, "I love the rock, I love the earth, I love myself, so I want to climb this." I want to do multi pitch climbs, easy climbs, hard climbs, bouldering. I guess you could say I want it all with climbing. I have been at the same place with climbing for a while now. I don't want to be in that place any more, I want to be better than that place. I am done being mediocre, so I am going to do what I can to be great. I know I will never be Lynn Hill when it comes to climbing, Evelyn Stevens when it comes to cycling, or a Lindsey Vonn when it comes to skiing, but I've got passion, isn't that what matters the most?
Today I am taking that passion to the mountain with me and enjoying the 19 inches of powder we were blessed with last night. I am fully aware of my inability to ski powder like a champ, but I have to start some where and Honeycomb Canyon sounds like the place.

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