Resolution

This is me, with WAY too much stuff attached to my bike.

This last year has been a wild ride. I've come to a point where I need to make a firm resolution.

Not just a new years resolution. And not a "you just had a birthday" resolution. A resolution to improve my quality of life. To do what I love to do, and what my youngest son, who just turned three, loves to do.

We moved to Montana through the convoluted evolution of meticulous planning, unforseen hardships, and unrelenting effort. ("We", btw, does not include the kids. Only Melissa and I made this trip. The kids got to ride up in the grandparents RV. Cheaters.)

My girlfriend Melissa climbing out of Flagstaff.

Through the badlands.

Camping. Somewhere in Utah.

Favorite picture ever. The Salmon Highway in Idaho.

Ascending Lost Trail Pass

Okay. We're here. Now what?

At first, the reality was less than tantalizing. It rained. All the time. Jobs were scarce. The city was bigger than I was used to, and the places I wanted to be were further away. The sun disappeared for weeks at a time behind a uniform layer of gray, murky clouds.

What was I expecting? Paradise on earth? It took a little while to re-adjust my thinking. Expectations are the worst enemy of truth.

We learned to navigate the city by bicycle, our only means of transportation, and the one that brought us here from Arizona. We learned how to dress for the weather as it swung like the pendulum in a grandfather clock from -12 F to +40 F. We learned how to schedule commuting and grocery store trips, one kid in school, and trips to library, and family ventures up the canyons, out of town, and into the wilderness.

This is Julian. He wants to be outside. All the time.

Rene (10 years old), walking, head down, on the trail up to the M.
Julian (3 years old), running up the steep trail and laughing.

My favorite photo of the kids. They both had a great time hiking, even Rene (my oldest son) who is trying to look like a real tough guy who isn't into this sort of thing.

So back to that resolution of mine. I am going to ride my bike. I'm building a new bike for the express purpose of spending time away from the city with the kids. Julian, my youngest, is like me and has no love for cities either, and would really rather be out on a bumpy forest road in the woods, running through the trees, or climbing some rocks.

I'm going to get back in shape. That involves commitment. It isn't like I'm totally out of it right now, I still consider a 30 mile ride with 1500 feet of climbing a pretty mellow day ride. But it isn't enough. I've got to transport Julian, and camping/climbing/whatever gear. Oh, and we live in a glacially carved bowl, so pretty much any ride out of town involves a half mile of elevation gain to get out of the valley. I'm willing to commit to riding longer, harder, and higher. To escape the trappings of civilization and get out in the real world. I'm willing to make the best possible use of every moment of this precious life, and hopefully instill this outlook in my children.

This blog is mostly about that resolution and the execution thereof. I will include reflections on our adventures, on parenting (an adventure in and of itself), on philosophy and this ever-changing world, and on my Buddhist perspective and how each moment is an opportunity for insight.