“Here we go again. The need to write stirs within. The need to put these ideas on paper, if only to free them from the tangled web of thoughts trapped in never ending circles. What is sport? What is movement? Why are these so important to me, to us as humans? These questions will be the base from which I start. The framework for how I explore this important section of my life. Gone are the days of meaningless statistics, of race reports, of standings and of ranking myself in relation to others. I will strive. I will push but only for the tantalizing, bone tingling high of exertion. This is life. In all its glory. The dirt, mud and sunshine of a spring day beckon just outside the back door. The local hills and valleys call my name. I will answer today. I will drink in the sounds of the awakening of the earth, slowly rousing after a long, dark and wet winter. The exercise will be to encapsulate the stimuli and translate it to written form. Life has become too sterile, too detached. I’m ready. Here we go.”-Unpublished draft from March 8th, 2020.

The urge to write was there in 2020. It always has been on some level, but I still needed time to focus my thoughts. The writing process and I have a complicated history. I loved reading as a child but always had a very hard time with the nuts and bolts of writing. Whether it was the penmanship, the spelling, the proper use of gerunds or how to make a sentence “flow”. The intricacies of translating spoken English, or my thoughts in English from my head onto paper, seemed like it should be so much easier than it is. I have been encouraged, buoyed if you will, by the writing of a friend of mine and how much I enjoy reading his words. I miss being able to express myself with a very limited filter to the stream of consciousness that woke me up at 5am this morning for no reason. I think he is right, blogs will make a comeback. The pure, uncut authenticity of amateur writing, with a focus on your fields of interest, feels like it has to work on some level to cut through the bullshit of AI word diarrhea that every marketing department is throwing at the wall to see what sticks. I want to not only talk to my friends, those I know, respect, and share this life with, but I also want to read the things they have not been able to articulate in conversation but that they feel compelled to let out somewhere. I’m a greedy son of a bitch what can I say? So here’s to writing and this space that I pay 18.95 a year for and have not used since 2018. I am going to leave all the old stuff up because history is fun and provides context to the what, how, why, and when. It also is great to see how my views have changed or stayed the same over the years and how much they will continue to repeat this trend going forward. The writing will be sport related, mostly bikes with the odd silly adventure thrown in. Some of it will be product recommendations that I just can’t shut up about and feel compelled to shout from the tops of the mountains. Like how good the Trek 34 oz or 1 liter water bottles are, or how I love the Time pedal ecosystem, but like my previous observations these views will probably change with time. I appreciate and love each and every one of you reading this but know that this writing experiment is deeply personal and is meant for no one besides myself. “Know thyself” they say and I am working on it.  See ya out there.