mckenzie

loving the extended day light. attempting to cut back on the coffee as part of the purity, so anything to keep the ferocity at bay is welcomed. dialed up a drive to single track to get some shoes muddy after playing with powder coat and bead blast all day. mckenzie has become my church for such things. simple, relaxed single track that seems to be locked into its own ecosphere. run off from the winter snows is high right now, so the waterfalls that you don't even take notice of during the dry months are puking out of the sides of the mountains all along the river. easy to breathe deep here. rarely do i catch this place with a crowd on it. the trail elves have been out here and most of the blow downs have been cleared away and order has been restored. it's hard to run gentle out here. i seem to find myself mindlessly flying along the paths every time i come alone. perhaps this speaks to the physical and spiritual purity that i am mindful of at this moment.

dimple hill hippies

(Top row: Old Growth, Pakaloco, Crystal Meth, FarOutMan, First, Aid)

(Bottom row: Amethyst, Moon Unit, Wind, Land)

invasion of the dimple hill aid station commenced at the Mac on saturday. hippies were on hand to provide food, drink and drop bags for all those competing in the foot race. we also offered up a little "love in" in the vw van and some brownies...it is oregon after all. we managed to get junior dick 3000 and the falcon out to join the crew. they wore matching red shirts from a mountain bike festival, so we named them first and aid. interesting to watch them mingle with the skinnies. wind came through on the music of a hippie era and the patchouli soap. land brought the drum, the crushed velvet and her vw van. i contributed some prayer flags. the brownies were not provided by the lord of brownies, who on this day masqueraded as faroutman, but rather amethyst. lots of smiles, dancing and we made sure that nobody filled their own water bottles at this station. we didn't just want to be the most themed aid station, we wanted to provide memorable service as well. i was not around for the post race throw down, but early return indicate that business was good and positive feedback was volunteered by all. good shit. i had lured the dawn patrol crew out to the macdonald forest with promises of singletrack slapdown on two wheels for afterwards, so we took full advantage of a beautiful day to try to break jd3K's new bike. the day was perfect as got to see the falcon go over his handlebars not once, but twice. the outfit i chose for the aid station got some interesting looks as I ripped through the trails on the monkey with only a helmet, gloves and shoes added to the ensemble. like ice cube said, i had to say it was a good day.

the dogfather

take your dog to work day is everyday for the dogfather. see this dude almost every morning on the commute. pooch even has a little yellow rain slicker hat he wears when it pours. he rides in the milk crate and enjoys the commute. brings a smile to the face every time i see them. it's infectious. i thought about asking the names of rider and pooch, but the dogfather leaves an air of pimp in my mind. so i'll leave things at that.

0j0 is seeing to my mind and my body. feeling good about the work that is being done. millenium falcon is tempting me daily with coffee from peru. this dude left work to bring me some today just so i could be one of the first to sniff it out of the box. that's a funny guy. junior dick 3000 just got his new 69'er from Trek. He's been talking shit about this thing since i moved here. dawn patrol in the a.m. to see what this thing is about. it shore is purty. he's had his deposit on it since july of last year and he has been waiting and waiting. he's like a virgin who's about to have his cherry popped. i hope it's all it cracked up to be. he got a pretty good deal on it. i think he's about $1500 in the hole on it, plus he ordered a carbon switchblade because he has read stuff he does not like about the maverick fork. he had to buy the bike complete, so the fork was included. i'll shoot some photos of the a.m. shakedown and let him guest blog the impressions. the early line from jimmy the greek has 3 to 1 odds on jd3 not being as happy with his purchase as he thought he was going to be. too much talk and expectation.

meditations in green

cool and wet today...overcast from the git go. slept like a hibernating bear. i really think my body was responding to mother nature. the schizophrenia of pacific northwest weather makes for some daily surprises. this latest change was reflected an inner yearning for solace.

since NASCAR was on a rain delay, it was time to seek meditation in green. ridgeline for thick ferns and soft singletrack. had the place to myself. ran right along the cloud line, dipping in and out of the mist. kinda rad. appreciate the gift of this, without a doubt. gentle thumping and reduced workload to bring the balance back to the legs. the fatigue of the task is slow to dissipate, but is leaving me and the motivation is coming back in slow roars. chilly and wet on the drive back, wind picking up. inside brewed some of the fresh spearmint i poached that was growing wild on the bike path and brewed it up in my french press. mmmm; the rain hitting the windows hard now. brought out the yoga mat and bolsters for one who has flexibility envy. put on a cd that "talks" you through a 1 hour ashtanga routine. i am familiar enough with the poses to play along without any issues.

i think the yoga has been whats missing. part of that balance that has been neglected.

meditations in green.

tao of tom

a little something from the mind of tom waits.

Introducing "A Little Rain" (Congres Centrum. The Hague/ The Netherlands: July 21, 1999): "This is a little story about the crooked tree and the straight tree. Do you know that story? [No response from the audience] Obviously you have heard that story... [laughter]. You see, once upon a time there was a forest and there were two trees in the forest, and there was a crooked tree and there was a straight tree. And the crooked tree used to look over at the straight tree and say, ‘Gee, look at you, you’re straight like that, I wish I was straight like that.’ The crooked tree would look up to the straight tree, and the straight tree would look down on the crooked tree and say, ‘Look at you, you’re crooked! You’re always gonna be crooked! You’re nothing but a crooked tree! You’re crooked and that’s all there is to it!’ So one day the lumberjacks came into the forest... [laughter] and they looked around, and they saw the trees... And one of the lumberjacks said, ‘Just cut off the straight trees!’ And the crooked tree is still there, till this day... growing strong and strange... That’s the story... [a rousing ovation]."

how?what?when?why?where?

(Lord Balls, King of Cool, Three Gels and Bilirubin)

i dont tag my posts. yet, i have been hit with several emails of inquiry from total strangers about the last 3 weeks of my life. interesting that they interested. impressions left with a simple post and a photo. they want to know what the nicknames mean and even guesses as to the true identity of the crew. listen, this photo sums up what you need to know.

we have fun. we train hard, we laugh a lot. don't ask the mileage for each week, or the elevation gain, or what shoes that were worn, or what the heart rate was, or if a gps was worn to check exact mileage. thanks for the questions. these facts mean nothing to me. my experience will not be your experience should you try to replicate it. my kamp was not Bili's kamp. no, i will not pass along the emails of the others to answer the questions that i cannot.

this is a hobby for those seeking a true personal experiment of one. personal being the key word. in this photo we have people who have lost more races than they have won. some of our greatest successes have come after someone else has crossed the finish line in front of us. we do some running as a group, but each journey is within.

i would love to answer the emails with the questions asked above. i am not the person for that type of data. my answer is simple. go experience it for yourself and gather your own set of answers. then they will truly be yours and apply to your personal experience.

shown the way

thank you, mr bear.

rehab

for the existence.

now: 67 degrees at 9:05 pm.

then: ride in today was pretty uninspired and went largely unnoticed by my distracted mind. did not notice i was without jacket for the first time this year. did not notice the little fuzzy goslings following the mama's around on the willamette river. did not notice the cottony pollen falling from the trees and lining the path like clumps of cocaine in tony montana's mansion. did not notice muse streaming into my ears from my ipod. did not notice that i was drinking coffee without sugar until the second or third sip.

my mind is so clear. the silence was needed and appreciated. it was noticed. my last 11 days has had little solitude. lots of talking. lots of energy. lots of distraction. sponging up details of every little essence of the experience. questions verbalized. questions internalized. all distractions. did not crack my book at all.

now: silence. back on the bike seeking the veggie grande burrito and cerveza. taking notice of all that was left ignored and unappreciated on the morning commute. sustinance attained, to go. found a spot on the river where it was quiet enough to hear the water flow. silence. the 'glug' of the beer as the bottle is turned up. the sound of chewing. the sound of a napkin cleaning the guacamole off my cheek with 18 hours whisker growth. quality.

rehab.

kamp

catching up from 10 days away is hard to do. i'll revisit a bit. this was by far some of the most satisfying training i have ever done. the theme was specificity. the gucci crew from eugene was full of experience and oozing advise that was taken and implemented and made the quality of the running just get better and better as the week went along.

heat. we had it. shirtless and sweating was how the west was won on this trip. s-caps were carried everywhere; used when needed and the body adapted and cooled itself quite well as the weekend wound down.

some words of the day: spunk bite: found on a chevron bathroom wall. fuck palace: trying to come up with phrases that would rhyme with pending baby name. sanctions: placed upon a market in forest hill, california.

themed runs: hawaiian shorts day: provided by thornley from his vast collection of mother in law provided gifts from a hawaiian running shop. 80's tank top day: think cotton. think richard simmons. think bare midriff cutoff. headband/wristband day: if you don't know, then never mind.

long strolls: 42 miles from roby point to the rucky chucky and back along the course. finishing at track. (no lap, though). 52 mile Ice Cream Sandwich Run (ICS). Cal 2 to swinging bridge at bottom of devils thumb and back to Cal 2. You stop in Forest Hill at 44 miles, eat an ice cream sandwich and do the dew before running the last part down to Cal 2 in under 75 minutes without throwing up the contents of your belly. 30 mile Robinson Flat to Michigan Bluff. canyons, canyons and more canyons.

misc: Lew Dogg came late because his wife is 8 months pregnant; so he arrived on saturday (4/28) in time to do the tempo run on Cal Street. his camp ended with a splash of embryotic fluid on the morning on may 4th, and concluded with alice lillian taylor on may 5th. conclusion: all that running and pounding will cause your wife to have your child 10 days early.

angels: both ladies begin with the letter L. they took care of us so well during this entire trip. shuttled us to drop off points for runs. always had the coffee going early. cooked great meals for us. more so, cleaned up after us during these great meals. met us on course with catered aid stations and always had a smile or ice cream bon bon surprises. endured poison oak. heat. crankiness. the digestive emissions of lord balls. the loud booming inside voice of AJW.

misc # 2: bilirubin is the lord of brownies. every day.

the experience was all it was hyped up to be and more. great to be joined for some runs by Gregorich, Ken W from Corvallis, AJW: I don't need no stinkin introductions. duff and the sister of lewdogg for a run, a sleep and drunken story time. trail work on the course one day with Tevis cup riders, WS runners. Catered trail work at that. mingling with both parties to find out we really think a lot alike. mutual respect gained, sweat, beer and swine formed a bond. DVD of karaoke from march trip to georgetown hotel will probably end up on youtube.

misc # 3: finally, thornley has the most alarming collection of tank tops on this earth. especially the two tone purple one...i don't mean singlets...tank tops.

rope a dope

the canyons are dealing it out, the miles are piling up. the ache is a permanent feature of wake up routine.

photo card on the camera is full. posting will resume with the quickness on sunday. the solitary location that affords such great running does not allow for internet the wireless way. no phone lines. no dial up. just solitary running and rest. word