tired/unretired

Haven't ridden a road bike since last July I think. Hard to get up in the mornings lately, but I forgot how fun (and light) a road bike can be. It's nice to have options so when the conditions or mood is right, you can fall in love with another bike or route like it was your first time out. Short-term memory helps, too. Ride yer (other) bike! Oh, and there was this squatter. Bold.

Memorial weekend ride

Thanks to all those who've fought for these freedoms. This journey is for you.

playing catch-up

mud dump

A little bit faster...

...than these guys today. Let the migration commence.

SSDD

Early to bed, early to ride.

Back at it. Gave up on the boot - this whole foot issue seems to be the same issue I've been having with my hamstrings/ITB/bicep/tricep/forearm/sartorius/etc for the past 10 years. I wondered if it would ever gravitate to my back or neck or feet/hands... Don't have time to explain, but I'm pretty sure it's what I've always thought: Adenosine Monophosphate Deaminase Deficiency. No real tests or knowledge on this all those years ago when I self-diagnosed myself after several wasted DR/specialist visits. Quite a bit more info out there now and it all makes perfect sense. I've just learned to live with it and keep stretching - doing enough to retain muscle plasticity but never able to work the muscles to exhaustion. Too much, it gets bad. Too little, bad. Once after a squat workout when this first came about, it took me nearly a month to get the knots worked out of my hamstrings. So now it's in my feet and I'll just have to be careful and have a good excuse to go spend hundreds on better shoes/orthopedics. But to be able to do this makes it worth it. ...

(re)Stumble Upon

I've been a little unproductive on the artistic front this past year (in regard to personal work), but I've been scouring the internets and nature lately to spark some sort of renaissance that will get me painting again. Just now, I was inspired while cleaning the house of all things. Found these old linocuts and a slide project I did 20 years ago in school. The slides project was for us to work on a miniscule canvas then we'd present our works in critique on the projector. These have lost a little detail over the years getting scratched and banged around in moves/storage, but they were fun. I still look back and see I haven't progressed much in the way of "loosening up" my art. Perhaps I just need to sit down with the paint and a board and see where it takes me instead of spending so much time in the concept/composition phase that I end up losing interest and never getting my ideas out. Or go for a bike ride.