A Facebook private message to me: It’s Eric’s birthday. We’re going to Appalachian Brewing Company after spin. This was waiting yesterday morning when I woke up. I messaged Lisa the night before looking for Eric’s cell number. As one of my first actions as a mountain bike coach, I’m setting up a spin class as … Continue reading Life is Good
Bicycling
In Search Of…
Halloween. Seventy-some degrees, tornado warning, driving sheets of rain. When Susan picked me up from work, she told me they cancelled Halloween. No, I don’t know who ‘they’ are. And I don’t know how they can cancel an international holiday. “Great,” I said, “are they going to cancel Christmas if it snows?” Suddenly I have … Continue reading In Search Of…
(Don’t) Sharrow the Road
The quality is horrendous, for that I apologize. This picture lived a tough life. It’s a photo of a photo in a photocopied copy of a city planning pamphlet. I planned on writing this post weeks ago, but I never went out to take the necessary picture. I could have found a picture on the … Continue reading (Don’t) Sharrow the Road
Dying with Gilda Radner
One year since publishing Fragments. My favorite story from the book. As an adult, I reinvented myself. Naturally bookish and wry, and a big drinker for years, I became an athlete as well. Fitness and endurance sports. Confident, funny, and carefree. Always on the move, distracted, numb. No opportunity, no reason to revisit the past. … Continue reading Dying with Gilda Radner
Ennui
Warning: This is long - 2,700 words. Ruminate on my past. Young-adult D.C. shuts down on Thanksgiving weekend. By young-adult, I mean over-twenty-one-but-not-yet-married-and-raising-families. As opposed to the literary genre that attracts readers aged eleven to seventeen. DC's young professionals, the yuppies, they all clear out. They go back to wherever they came from. They spend a … Continue reading Ennui
Time Off
I’m surrounded by athletes. They’re everywhere I turn. Susan’s massage clients, my friends from the fitness center (which is also where I work), the other volunteers on the committees I’ve joined. They’re triathletes really—runners, swimmers, cyclists. But we’re old, or aging at least, and most of us have dropped a sport or two. I’m a … Continue reading Time Off
The Best Songs You Won’t Hear in Spin Class
January 17, 2015 Energy, anger, humor, disdain, resignation. A driving beat. Guitar, bass, drums. Raw and sparse. A recipe for punk rock. It cannot be pulled together like the ingredients in a cake. It forms naturally, holistically. And at times, it's art. It's not for everyone. Many don't like it. Or they don't understand it. I've … Continue reading The Best Songs You Won’t Hear in Spin Class
Spinning, Running, Bikes, Bikes, Bikes
Note: #4 in the BABWTR Series - my quest to become a Bad-Ass Back-Woods Trail-Runner. Each stands alone, but it is helpful to read them in order. I commute to work every day on my bicycle. I ride a mile! A half-mile in the morning, and a half-mile back home in the evening. Sometimes, … Continue reading Spinning, Running, Bikes, Bikes, Bikes
The Other Stuff 