Movement tends to provide a certain degree of clarity for me. Perhaps that's one of the drivers of racing, an excuse to move. Well, that, and the insatiable appetite for games.
In 2017 Firefly made me a beautiful gravel bike. I wrote a little thing about the said, ShredSl3d(TM) and titled the article Bonds that (Apparently) can't be Broken. Stay with me here, as there is a point It's mid-2022 and the bike-verse is a bit personally different. Heck, my verse at its entirety is wildly different. Not the most unique narrative as most of us have hyperactively shifted in some way or another during this global continuum of challenges. We're all just ...strengthening our capacity I suppose. TL/DR, I don't really race bikes anymore. I also moved seemingly backwards on the trajectory of life. As the paper reads: married/home owner >> single >> renting an apartment in a couple of CO mountain towns >> move to LA. While quick-feeling, all decisions felt pretty deliberate. Just evolvement and change. Although extremely challenging, Alex and I are still grateful to have been in each other's lives, and hope to continue to respect one another. Those years will always be important. The last couple of years have cast a major light on my relationships in general, not just romantically. An incredible personal observation is how bikes have provided me some of the most important relationships in my life. Even when I want to throw that tool off of a stupid mountain. I love that Firefly has built me these weapons which have their own little tattoos (scuffs), without being (even marginally) compromised. Just like the (many) scars on every pointy part of my body. Not all my relationships revolve around bikes, I'm far too neurotic for that. But I do credit this little machine to a major part of my growth. Call me, a reformed (self-proclaimed) Economist who has relinquished the control, a lot a bit. So this summer, I went on a little roadtrip., and then a flight, and then a road trip, and then another flight, followed by more roadtrips. The trip would equate to 99 hours in the car and plane. Couldn't even hit 3 digits. Initially, the plan was to bikepack throughout Northeastern Spain with my dear friends Jen and Ceasar. Since I would be gone for some time, I wanted Alex to hang with Logan (the most and absolute perfect girl in the world) So we're driving to CO. The plan evolved, as they normally do. But this trip was different. It evolved to a place to where I was able to see some of the dearest and inspiring people I've encountered through bikes. This weird bond around "hey, we've seen some shit, remember how we dealt with that?" and how we're still somehow in the middle of southern France at 1am with a bucket of chicken, wondering how we got here but not at all surprised. We didn't bikepack, but we rode through cities, towns, beaches and countrysides. Rode to beaches and through mountains. Experiencing the people, the food, and seeing some great friends along the way who showed us around their neighborhoods. It is very special how we've made it a priority to stay in each others lives and have used the bike to get to experience and learn, and are continuing to do the same but at a different tempo. Simple stuff, compounded over time. Five years later and my ShredSl3d is still collecting new tattoos, and it's still true that some bonds can't be broken
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