Buzz kill alert

I mentioned back in late September that BeanSS and I were emerging from an epic shit storm. Well, recent events have necessitated that I take the metaphor a bit further. It turns out, we were only in the eye of said shit storm, and it has started raging once again.

The short version, the only version I'll share here, is that just as I was dealing with the tragic deaths of two stray dogs (not ours), out of the blue, I learned of the untimely death of a sibling. This was all on top of a bunch more stuff running in the background, mostly left over from the summer from hell. Dammit, I think we've been through enough.

I've kept right on riding, lifting and hiking because the exertion somewhat helps keep my mind off it all. I very badly want to get back to a time when everything wasn't so difficult, so heavy. To that end, I dusted off the singlespeed, which hadn't seen a trail since May. I rode down to the regional park and did lap after lap on the myriad loops. I'd been commuting like mad all month on a road bike and riding in the dirt was liberating. The weather was absolutely perfect and the desert was beautiful. I rode strong and downed a beer when it was over. The pain of having ridden so hard very briefly displaced the pain of recent events. It'll be back, but I'll keep on trying to overcome it, riding the wheels right off my bike if I have to.