hardiness is transitory.

miles: none

me and my bike, we're doing quite well, thanks. not unlike other periods of my life i haven't done much riding recently. it's been pretty much every other week and even then it's only a few miles one way. work and weather have certainly hampered my desire to saddle up. i'll be the first to admit that i am either not as hardy as i once was or maybe i've just realized riding in single-digit temperatures is just no fun at all. well, it is winter, it's natural to put on some extra pounds and conserve calorie expenditure to survive these cold months... right? *cough*.


when i have gotten out it's pretty much just to go camping. i've found that getting out in the woods where my cell phone gets no service, away from netflix, away from steam, away from youtube is the only time when i can forget about what's going on [or not going on] in my life and just focus on the tasks at hand. you'd be surprised how much work it is to set up a campsite and maintain a fire. next thing you know, you've finished your sweet potatoes and are in your bag enjoying the dead silence of a winter forest.



i may have limited time right now to actually load up the bike and get out on the road but that doesn't mean i don't think about it all the time. the harshness of winter camping makes me really look forward to the spring and summer and i think about it daily. just the thought of a long ride out to a lakeside campsite via dirt roads months from now helps with the day-to-day stresses of today.


i have a confession, sometimes when i walk past my mountain bike leaning against the wall in my living room i sniff the grips because they smell like dirt in the spring and it makes me happy.