Category Archives: Climbing
Long Time Coming
Apologies for the lack of writing these past three months; now that my day job consists of typing away all day on my computer, it’s been difficult to find motivation. I decided to play around with the site look and feel this slow Sunday morning, and figured I’d post some new content to go along with it.
Life is still in a gradual upward progression for me, slowly gaining momentum towards something loftier that I still don’t understand. The out-of-the-box thinking associated with my work has me thinking out-of-the-box on a lot of things now, and I’m almost ready to put graduate school back on the map. I’m hoping that some changes coming up soon will inspire me to take the final steps in defining my overall focus and direction.
Physically, I’m exactly where I want to be with my climbing and cycling. I’m riding 150-200 miles a week, and feeling faster and fitter each time I get on the bike. I’ve had some great breakthroughs with my climbing recently, just a few moves away from my first 5.11s in a long time. I’ve been making a conscious effort to align the rest of my lifestyle to support my goals.
There’s some really cool things about to happen for me, and I’m excited about showing you more than telling. Expect pictures in the first week of May.
I’m Covered in Ants!
This past weekend was one of my best since Thanksgiving. I had been in a low spot in desperate need of revitalization. One would think that starting your Saturday with an 8-hour shift at REI the weekend before Christmas would lead to a horrible weekend, but it was exactly the opposite for me. I enjoyed every minute of my day there – the fast-paced human interaction and lots of smiles made my day.
Saturday night brought me to my backyard, with a fridge full of Lonestar, a nicely burning campfire, and a handful of good friends. From sunrise to early Sunday morning, I accomplished everything my mind was intensely needing. And, I went to bed with plans to climb the following day, with guaranteed beautiful weather and more happy faces.
I woke up relatively early Sunday morning eager to start the day. Coconut water and Vitamin I pushed the Lonestar out of my muscles, and a good breakfast got me going. Sierra and John met me at my house around noon, and we headed into the greenbelt. The climbing was beautiful and conditions were perfect. Sunshine, cool temperatures, a new climber eager to learn the ropes, fun routes and lots of laughs.
We ventured down to 5.8 sanctuary, my favorite “wall away from it all” on the greenbelt, with a fun little cave I’ve been working out my upper body in. I did a hard variation on a route I’ve been trying for a long time, which was nice. The area is a little dirty thanks to its unpopularity, and we wanted to clean up a few good holds while we were there.
Belaying John while he cleaned the dirt out a large crack/pocket at the top of the route, we quickly and rudely discovered how a large crack on a rock face could be filled with loose dirt. Fire ants. John scooped out a huge handful of dirt and angry ants directly on top of me, and they were far from happy. I kept my composure and lowered John as quickly as possible, then flailed frantically to get them all off me. I’m counting at least 20 swollen and itchy bites on me right now…
The ants added a little twist of adventure and excitement to a perfect day, and we continued to climb until sunset. All in all, I couldn’t have asked for a better weekend, and really owe my friends for pulling me out of my slump. Things are starting to look up.
Pulling on Plastic
Carolina, Kristen and I climbed indoors at Main Event in North Austin last night, maybe 9:00 – 11:30pm. It was my first real go at indoor climbing. The last time I climbed indoors I was a little kid, and I rented shoes…
Gym climbing, for me, takes all the magic out of the experience – the route finding, the outdoors, the feel of real rock, and the sense of adventure. But it is a fantastic training tool, and how else can I climb safely at 9pm? It felt odd having all the holds marked and so clear. Because it is such a controlled environment, you can really let loose on some big moves. At the end of the night, I was maybe a half inch away from sticking a six-foot all points off dyno…
Before climbing, C and I had a fantastic happy-hour sushi dinner at Kyoto. We ate in the Tatami room, cross-legged with our shoes off. It was quite cute.
Everything about yesterday went quite well – a good day at work, followed by a great evening. I’m so happy with life right now.
September 6th?
Wow, it certainly doesn’t feel like it’s been a month since my last update. Life has been moving along quickly.
Being in love makes the world look remarkably different. I’m totally convinced and completely hooked on the feeling. She’s the best thing in my life.
Fall is almost here. Three days ago the city of Austin let out a collective sigh of relief as a cold front came in and pushed out the terrible heat. It feels like we’re on the downward slope to happier times. Jerry and I have made it – an entire summer in Central Texas without air conditioning in the house. It’ll certainly be on my list of great accomplishments in 2010. I’m overflowing with excitement thinking about fires in the backyard again, cozy down comforters on the bed, and jackets.
Fall means climbing in Mexico with Carolina (and jackets). Happy and cool commutes to the office. All that good stuff.
Work has been going well. I’ve been busy, but never stressed. Some days I wish I was back at REI full-time, talking about my hobbies, my travels, and feeling like an expert in something. I still work there once a week, and I definitely enjoy being there more than I used to. I guess being involved with something on a more limited basis let’s you see the good things you’d normally overlook in the blur of daily activity.
Carolina and I strapped a pizza from Eastside Pies to the back of the Big Dummy two nights ago. I felt a fantastic sense of accomplishment. I sold the fixed gear a few weeks ago, and have been using the Big Dummy exclusively for my short commute and cargo carrying needs. It’s been amazing.
I had a few small accomplishments in the climbing department yesterday with Carolina. We stayed local and climbed on the greenbelt for a change, warming up on my favorite route in Austin and flailing on some overhanging rock at 5.8 Sanctuary. My back is sore today.
Like most things right now, I’m striving for more consistency with my blog updates, hoping for at least weekly posts. We’ll see how that works out… Thanks for reading.
Good gets Better
Cruising around on the Surly Big Dummy is perhaps the best cycling-related experience I’ve had in Austin. My obnoxiously large box arrived on Friday last week, four days after the order was placed. I left the office a little early and went into time trial mode to the shop, so we could get started right away on building it up. I helped Andy (my coworker and favorite mechanic) get it all together, and must admit, I was a little intimidated by the sheer size of it all. The chain, the insanely long cable routing, the super-sized wheelbase – for someone who rides aggressive road bikes pretty much exclusively, there couldn’t be a more polar opposite.
But I’m totally hooked. The plush ride, the stopping power and control, the ease of packing – everything is right. I’m still waiting for the opportunity to load it up really heavy, but so far, it’s been incredibly smooth. I loved going to the grocery store and not thinking about what I was throwing in the cart. It may sound trivial, but when you commute by bike exclusively, that little bit of freedom is something to behold. I’m very, very happy.
Good gets better.
Carolina and I have been climbing almost every Sunday. Yesterday’s trip took us to Hand Beyond Wall with my good friend Rami, who will be departing for a new life in South-east Asia in just a few days. Hand Beyond is my favorite place out at Reimer’s. Few people know about it, it’s far away from the typical weekend crowds, and the routes are all especially high quality. We did a lot of mid-hard 5.10s, and just enjoyed life in the sunshine. After thoroughly wearing ourselves out on the rock, C and I continued on to a great afternoon together, and a beautiful evening.
She lifts me up to a higher place – if you can’t tell by now, I really like her.
My work is keeping me excited and quite happy too. We’re developing a very productive dynamic at the office, and I like being handed the reigns on more and more projects. I recently reconnected with an old friend of mine to work on a project I’m really, really excited about, and I have a good feeling we’re going to make some magic happen. It’s good to get excited about those things…
Quick Update
My back muscles are just now beginning to return to normal. Last Sunday Carolina, Luis and I climbed especially hard out at Reimer’s Ranch. With the regular crowd presumably doing Father’s Day activities, we were able to set up camp at Prototype Wall and stay there for the day. We climbed on 8 flake (5.8), Bisector (5.10a), Prototype (5.10d), Sugar (5.10d), and Bolt Talk (5.11a). Not a bad lineup of routes to play on…
Bolt Talk is one of my favorite routes out there – a great balance of hard and powerful moves at the bottom, with crimpy and balancy moves at the finish. Pressed into the limestone at the top are a bunch of prehistoric pebbles and fossils, giving you some really interesting holds to play with. I’m still a little ways away, but I think Bolt Talk will be my first 5.11a redpoint. Maybe 2 or 3 weeks. Better yet was how Carolina sailed up it at the end of the day – she’s getting wicked strong, and will be all over 5.11s in no time too. I seriously have the coolest playmate a guy like me could ask for.
Surly Big Dummy. I ordered one. Arguably the most capable cargo/heavy touring bike out there right now, I’m hoping it’ll fill some pretty significant gaps in my transportation arsenal. Most notably in the “moving heavy objects” category. The whole package should arrive early next week, and the build should take another couple of days. I’m super excited. It’ll be nice to have a versatile and comfortable bike to cruise around on, picking up whatever I see fit along the way. And I have dreams of weekend touring trips in the near future too.
Lots more to write about, but I’m running out of time this morning. I have a series of conference calls to be on starting in 10 minutes… Life is good to me right now.
Recap
Time is going by too fast – so much stuff going on. Let’s go back to May 26th, Wednesday afternoon. I was riding my bike home from work with my coworker, Kieran, when a truck pulled out in front of us on South Lamar. I slammed into his driver’s side door at almost 30mph. Scary stuff. I reacted quickly; in my last two seconds I was able to get the bike fairly sideways, putting my shoulder into him instead of my face. I thought I broke my collarbone when I ripped his side-view mirror off with it; but beyond some soreness, cuts and bruises, I fared surprisingly well.
The bike is going to need some work, but that’s what insurance is for… $1,600 worth of work.
Three days later, on Sunday the 30th, Carolina and I, along with a friend of her’s, headed out to Reimer’s Ranch to climb. I still wasn’t 100% from my crash, and had to tape up the cut on my finger quite a bit, but it was a good day of climbing none-the-less. I felt like I could still pull pretty hard, but the cut was holding me back. We ended the day with a pretty amazing dinner at Carolina’s place.
Fast forward.
My adventures this past weekend started on Thursday the 3rd. Carolina and I had a late dinner, carb-loading for the test of endurance set for the upcoming Saturday morning. We made pasta and drank Mirror Pond Pale Ale, and before we knew it the clock read 1:30am. Opps. With an alarm clock set for 6am to head to work the next morning, I think this is where my long stretch of sleep deprivation started.
Saturday morning, the 5th, the alarm clock started singing at 4:00am. Carolina and I had wheels on the road at 5:00am. We were the two crazy cyclists doing the 100 mile route variation for the Texas 4000 ATLAS ride, going from Austin to Lampasas, TX. I don’t think either of us had done more than 20 miles in one go in the past few months, but we’re both rockstars.
The ride was amazing, but quite hot. It was great to see some old friends on the bike again, and my time riding with Carolina is always fantastic. We completed our epic and epically hot day around 2:00pm with BBQ and beer in Lampasas. Our plans had us camping in Lampasas that night, waking up too early on Sunday morning to cook breakfast for the 2010 riders before they headed to Alaska. We found a hose to clean the road off of us, then our group headed to a spring-fed public pool to cool off a little more.
Saturday, night under the stars, was pretty much perfect. But way too short. We were up again at 4:00am, after maybe 3hrs with our eyes closed, to start cooking.
And that brings me here; I’m finally caught up on my missing sleep. I’m juggling a few work-related projects this week, but it’s all within reason again. Looking forward to a good week.
Enchanted Rock
Granite is hard. In more ways than one.
I climbed at Enchanted Rock yesterday with my good friends Ky, Emily and Stephen. Erock is our local Central Texas destination for traditional climbing on relatively uniform granite cracks. The type of rock out there is sharp and unforgiving, just like the style of climbing. For an aspiring limestone rockstar like me, climbing at Erock is like climbing in an entirely different world.
We started on some “moderates” at triple crack sanctuary, where just the scramble up to set some top-rope anchors was an adventure pushing me out of my comfort zone. We set up a 5.9 hand crack, a 5.8 off-width, and a 5.10a finger crack. When I see those numbers, I think easy warm-up climbs. I got shut down. By 5.8. The motions are just so much different from anything else I’ve done on rock. The 5.10a finger crack actually went down easily though; the route was a bit more receptive to raw crimper strength and fancy footwork. But wow, what a workout and harsh wake-up call.
We climbed another 5.9 hand/fist crack. The movements were so dirty feeling, ramming pretty much any body part that would fit snugly into this crack. I was cussing and grunting the whole way up. When my feet touched the ground, I let out a reassuring “huh” with an odd smile on my face. Ky, Emily and Stephen just started laughing. After that, I think the motions finally started to click for me.
I learned how to place gear too yesterday. Ky is a professional guide and a great teacher, and Emily has enough trad experience under her belt to comfortably instruct any climber out there. I couldn’t have asked for two better people to show me how those shiny widgets work.
My body is sore, scraped and bruised today. I passed on climbing at Reimers Ranch this morning, and will probably do a nice long bike ride this afternoon instead. I’m still in good spirits.
Excuses
“I’ve been neglecting my writing these days.” I feel like when most people write this, they always throw down the busy excuse next – too many things going on, no time to write, or nothing extraordinary to write about. I don’t suffer from any of these issues. The last week of my life has been absolutely amazing. I’ve fallen into a spectacular love with a beautiful young woman, experiencing feelings I would have never dreamed of. My physical strength allowing me to do things on the rock I could have only dreamed of doing as well. And, in the background of my personal growth and exploration, my work has been providing me the freedom and stress free environment I need to fully devote my life elsewhere.
I’m not too busy to write, I’ve just found something better to focus on…
Tuesday afternoon, our friend Daniel C took Carolina and I bouldering at McKinney Falls State Park, just outside of Austin. I had been out there once before with Emily, back when I was just getting into climbing, but this was Carolina’s first experience with bouldering. Bouldering translates into a lot of different things for a lot of different climbers. For me, it’s just a super hard workout. But I think the consensus would define bouldering as “pulling on wicked hard moves close to the ground, while working on your tan, and/or drinking beer.” It’s very casual and very laid back.
I’m a horrible boulderer, and McKinney Falls is quite stout as far as difficulty goes. You either work yourself to quick exhaustion or to injury. We did have a fun time though, injury free. It was fun to have every problem you touch be overhanging; a nice change since I don’t really climb overhanging sport routes [yet]. My body is still as sore this morning as it was yesterday. A good kind of sore.
I’m planning another trip down to Mexico for the end of March, probably another 10 day affair. Part will be spent in Monterrey, seeing the people and places of Carolina’s hometown, then we’ll jet out to El Portero Chico for some fantastically long limestone sport routes. To say I’m excited would be an understatement. I’m hoping to bring some new strength out there, and now that I have some multi-pitch experience under my harness, I’ll be much more confident to take the sharp end of the rope way off the deck.
I’m still looking for a new job, but recently I’ve been pretty content with my current one. I’m really nailing the work/life balance part pretty well at least. I think I’m going to stash some clothes there pretty soon, and head out on my road bike for a few hours before I go in this afternoon. The weather is beautiful outside.
Improvement
February has filled my life with good surprises. 2010 has been a remarkable year for me so far; good things and exciting experiences just keep flowing in my direction. I’m honestly feeling happier than I ever have before, accompanied by an odd feeling of completeness and fulfillment. For the first time, I’ve lost the impulse to run away on my own and start a new life – things are how I want them to be here and now.
I climbed last week; on Wednesday with Carolina at Reimers Ranch, and on Thursday at the greenbelt with Carolina, John, my good friend Norene (from NY), and my friend Spencer. I still can’t believe how drastically my strength has changed in the last month or so. Problems that used to be really difficult for me are becoming almost easy. It’s giving me a consistent feeling of improvement that I think everyone needs in their life, in one way or another.
My little blue house on the eastside is filled with so much love and positive energy right now. C and I have been super active in the kitchen, keeping the house smelling good around the clock. I love learning new dishes and new cooking techniques from her. We hosted our gang of hungry climbers on Thursday evening. C put together some amazing chili rellenos and mexican rice, alongside my black beans and John’s guacamole. Under the glow of the moontower, we feasted and laughed in the backyard around the campfire.
Despite my total happiness, In the back of my mind, I know that things can’t stay the way they are now forever. The settings that make my world amazing will be changing sooner or later. And that’s fine, that’s life. But there’s an odd and new comfort that goes along with that feeling too. I’m confident and comfortable with the idea of change because of one constant thing. I know that the one connection to the one person that makes my life wonderful won’t be changing anytime soon.
