A new age of peaceful mountain bicycling

March 21, 2012

Caution- Incohesive rambling ahead!

I hope you had a good vernal equinox. Mine was good. I elevated my computer to accommodate computing from a standing position . (I stacked it on top of my stereo, a History of Far Eastern Art and a cassette tape handleless briefcase [great for road trips with your cassette stereo-equipped hatchback]). "Why did I do such a thing?" you may or may not be asking. Well it's because I don't wanna get too comfortable. If I get too comfortable I'll probably wanna take a nap and then I wouldn't be able to sleep through the night (aaaaahhh!). That is a scary thought. There are many things I like more than bicycling, and one of them is definitely sleeping. I hope I don't lie awake tonight thinking about the horrors of napping potentially causing me not to be able to sleep.

Today I stopped by the grocery store after work to purchase some beers, and this is the one I chose.

Samuel Adams' Alpine Spring (it's beer, not soap).

It is very good, thank you for asking. The guy at the liquor part of the store and I mocked the weather people and their ridiculous predictions (hail, thunder, lightning, etc.). Well of course they tell you that so that you will stay inside with your television instead of going outside with a hoe and planting lettuce or going for a picnic or whatever other crazy outdoor activities you kooks are enjoying these days.
Then I met up with a pedestrian at Chatty Corner. "Nice day for a bike ride." remarked my new acquaintance in a friendly sarcastic manner and laughed.

It was a little drizzly.

The ducks are back out. Mallards. I counted seven in the drainage area along the multi-use path. Then on the way home I saw a red-bellied woodpecker. I thought that was pretty neat-o. I read that Greg Miller, the man who was the inspiration for the box office joke movie Big Year is in Nebraska this week for a series of lectures. Wow. First Rick Steves now Greg Miller!? Who's next, maybe ex-Peace Corps volunteer, current handyman Bob Vila? Jimmy Carter? Or Ilchi Lee? We can only hope for our favorite. But these three are really our only choices.  It is Nebraska, after all.

Monday I hit a pothole on my way into the gasket-testing facility. There was no caution sign. Here it is.

It was drizzly. Do you know where it is not drizzly? Sedona. Have you ever been to Sedona, Arizona?

It is a lovely part of the country. I'm pretty sure that it's a good mountain bicycling area. I went for a backpacking trip near Sedona once and had a great time. It is also home to a school run by Tao Fellowship a group inspired, at least in part, by the teachings of Mr. Ilchi Lee.  Many of their retreats occur at the lovely Sedona Mago Retreat.  Mr. Lee is the founder of the International Brain Education Association.  Although education is often thought of as being primarily brain-based, I learn mostly with my skull.  I hit things with it and then try to avoid them next time.  My muscle memory, especially when it comes to falling, is also probably a bit keener than my brain memory.  I have a vague connection with Mr. Lee in that I attended a tai chi/meditation school (now known as Dhan yoga) that was based on his philosophies in Tempe, Arizona. for at least a month. Although, I have returned from serving my time my residency in the Phoenix area, the indirect teachings of Mr. Lee have mostly stuck with me. And based on this connection, I am planning on approaching the Tao Fellowship with my idea to start a Tao mountain bicycling/bird watching camp for young enthusiasts in the Brain Education spirit of learning. First I will require some free brain education/ washing and an attitude adjustment.  The Old Bastard might need a new coat of paint.  Mountain bicycling and bird watching oughtta cover the main interests of young campers with a yen for catalyzing world peach peace. I am pretty sure that the Mr. Lee will be thrilled with this idea, since he was inspired to begin his spiritual teachings after a time of fasting and self-denial upon a mountain. Bird watching and mountain bicycling are considered forms of self-denial by most of today's youth, so perhaps they can come to the same sort of realization that Mr. Lee experienced. Leave all your baggage behind young ones, let us bicycle/bird watch into the lofty clouds of Sedona-buzz. If you don't like the idea of new age mountain bicycling, you could always purchase a Giant Sedona bicycle to help try to fill that void in your soul, loser.