Yvon Chounard may not be Homer but he is a worthy modern day wise man, he admonished, don’t be a sports nazi. His meaning was, don’t do one sport to the exclusion of all others. It’s tempting not to pursue other sports when cycling demands so much time and leaves one with a body that is barely useful for anything else, but that would be too easy.
VLVV, Gianni
Admittedly, the concept of worshipping multiple deities has lost its popular following in the last few millennia. But we must reconcile theological doctrine with reality and bury the schisms that have caused sectarian strife for so long. The month of October is the perfect time to revisit the sacred teachings.
At first glance, you might call me an infidel upon learning that today, instead of devoting my whole day to worshipping The Bike, I plan to make equally sacred offerings to The Mountain. Indeed, the pile of bespoke cycling gear designated for today’s ride now has to share the same trunk space with ropes, cams, carabiners, and other studly accoutrements of the climbing craft. Upon learning this, many of you likely will condemn me a Rule #4 violator and ban me from La Vie Velominatus for life. But I beg you to hear my case before casting judgment.
In ancient Athens, for example, the good citizens understood that it was prudent to worship many gods; though the gods were fickle and jealous, they could bestow upon you great benefits. What really mattered was religious experience, spirituality, and sacrifice.
I assure you – all of these elements will be present in today’s outing and, as such, I am not heretic, but a true believer. Take for example, sacrifice. What greater sacrifice can there be than braving the desolate country roads of rural Virginia, with nary an espresso in sight, facing a near-rabid canine darting at me as I exhaustedly summit a roller? In the same vein, the path to our climbing routes planned for the afternoon takes us between Scylla and Charybdis – the dreaded “Poison Ivy Gully” descent or a rappel off manky tree anchors that could, at any moment, be messed with by meth tweakers frequenting the trail. I shall not even speak of the fact that we have to arrive at our destinations in a minivan, for no other mode of transport can accommodate the Hydra masking as our multi-sport gear collection.
The religious experience will be all worth it. There is little that compares to the hum of my overpriced drivetrain on a crisp October day or the cloud of climbing chalk following me like a halo as I flail like a stuck pig on a sandbag Great Falls eliminate. I thusly urge you to consider the wisdom of the ancients and erase differences between the gods. As far back as Homer, great thinkers recognized a unity in the multiplicity of the divine. Skiing season, here I come!
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So far only to the extent of studying every technique vid they have online. It'll happen. It must happen.
Analcoitus. Been here almost four years and hadn't heard that one.
@Al__S
You will never find me in a climbing gym. I had to carry a bag of soil back from the hardware store the other day. Set my cycling back weeks.
@PeakInTwoYears
The first winter we lived in Seattle, we chose a sunny day and went skiing in the morning, riding in the afternoon, and the we barbeque'd down on the beach.
There is no place else I can think of where you can do those three things on one day than in the Pacific Northwest. What a place.
Lovely photo.
@willem
I came to Cycling via nordic skiing. I'm still trying to lose the residual muscle mass on my massive arm canons because of it.
You can wait to chose what you commit to, but choose the complimenting sports wisely, pedalwan.
@DerHoggz
+1.
@Marko, @PeakInTwoYears
We just closed on an acre a bit south of there on the west side of Whidbey. Property has a full view of the shipping lanes and Olympics.
We'll be using the property for riding only; no paddling, you twats.
@frank
Fantastic! Congrats. I'll give you a wave next time I'm rounding Pt. Wilson on my way down to PT.
I'm going to find out where this is and paddle back and forth across your line of sight wearing a huge fake beard and neon paddling gear from the 90s. There goes your investment, boom.
@frank
If you bulk up your upper body by climbing, you're doing it wrong. It's all about the feet. That's why Mrs Scaler could kick my ass climbing before "the accident".
@scaler911
Bulk is relative. In cycling that means any muscle fiber. In fact, you can drop a significant amount of weight by just cutting your arms off!
@scaler911
I wouldn't say doing it wrong. In bouldering and much more dynamic climbs you will build a good amount of upper body. But say slab or very static climbing its all in balance and technique. I know pencil thin people that climb 5.14, but get them on a very difficult over hanging problem and they won't complete a 5.12. Just like cycling has its different specialties that each individual may excel at, climbing is very diverse. Compression, slab, crack, crimps, dynamic, static, etc.
@ChrisO Maybe we should share our feelings...Amen, Brother! I thought this was about "being bat-shit fast and looking good doing it!" What next, guest article from Duck Dynasty??
@DCR
Well sure. I was painting with a pretty broad brush. I just did a horrible job of saying that for the most part, climbers don't have the body of Sly Stallone a'la that horrible film "Cliffhanger".