Bare Knuckles

I quit wearing gloves.

On one level, I quit wearing bicycle gloves, removed the speedometer/computer and tossed the heart rate monitor. I ride my heavy fat-tire bike... the carbon has been hanging from the ceiling for years. When I hike my usual solo 7-mile trails, I change to boots but wear whatever I have on (dress shirt and pants)... I do not carry water nor food but I do carry a phone. Bare knuckled.

On another level, I do not use an electric toothbrush either. At my shower you'll find a bar of soap and a razor... no shampoo nor bottles of any kind. At my sink is a toothbrush, Water Pic, baby oil and hairbrush. Pretty simple, eh?

There's only beer and popsicles in my fridge. I own no iron, no mixer, nor blender. I seldom use the heat or air conditioning at home, and I open my window at work. Do I live like a monk?

I do not use mosquito spray and I do not wave a stick in front of me to break the spiderwebs on-trail. Spider bites are an acceptable hazard.

Given a choice, I do it the hard way. I do not use work gloves at the farm. I use a hand saw, I use sandpaper in a block, I cut up small trees with a bow saw, and I usually drive a screw with a screwdriver. I have better control this way rather than with motorized tools, and it toughens my hands and joints. Bloody knuckles heal.

The world is fragile.

I do have to be careful, because I'm too strong. I have twisted doorknobs off, destroyed vacuum cleaners, and hurt with a handshake or hug.

Why?

Why do I do things the hard way? Not only do I like the accomplishment, but doing things the hard way is training. I will be able to do these things when I get old... while my buddies can't already. Use it or lose it!

Storms took the power down and a neighbor with a generator invited me to watch TV, but I thanked him and said that a candle and my iPhone will suffice. I do it because I like simplicity.

Although I'm a rocket scientist, I like no frills. The more complex something is, the higher the risk of failure and the lower the reliability. In my old cars, I've cut off many unneeded gadgets, and the cars are aging rather well. I like low risk.

Sooo... why live bare knuckled? Because it improves both my body and my character. A lot of people talk tough, but I live it.


-copyright 2014 by Willy

Something Special and Motivational

The above picture is the GPS screen reading of my hiking GPS at the top of Mount Shivano near Salidas, Colorado, a few weeks ago. Note its elevation reading is 14,233 feet.

Shivano is a class-2 fourteener, and I hiked a mile up in five miles forward, in thin air. This one took me six hours to climb where my other successful fourteener, a class-1, took me four hours, so either my training is lacking or I've got to shed some pounds, or both. That gives me a goal for the next year... to train extra hard at my home elevation of 1,000 feet.

Besides backpacking, I'm now "peak-bagging." Colorado has 52 mountains that are 14,000 feet high or higher. I have accomplished two in five attempts. The unsuccessful attempts were either storm problems and/or not starting early enough and not having enough time (Grey's), or being pooped out (Long's and Pike's). No, I do not get sick at this altitude but I do walk slower and pant more.

I have to do Something Special and Motivational a few times a year. We all do.


-copyright 2014 by Willy.

Why I Train, II

Yes, that's a grandbaby in that backpack.

OK, I've had a great Summer already. A week bonding with my son,  another week bonding with my daughter, and months of having fun with a young old friend.

Did a week hiking Colorado mountains with the daughter's family. It was especially nice to backpack the 1-year-old up Class 2 trails... straight up. I trained at home on long hikes carrying 30 pounds of lead weights.

The son and I upgraded my TV to a big full-smart model with keyboard and streaming (to replace my 22-year-old tube)... and new WiFi and recliners too... while that grandkid went to camp. So... this wasn't really what I trained for, but I need a place to crash after the training, no?

A great Summer already... and, now we have sequestration furloughs: I'm off every Friday until October. More outdoors and time with good friends... it can't get better than this!


- © 2013 by Willy

What's Missing?

Cardio afternoons at the gym begin on the elliptic, with load and ramp at medium. The mp3 plays on and breathing and pace match the audio, which increases in tempo. I warm up, struggling and fighting the machine until something magic happens... it all comes together... I relax, my shoulders drop, everything synchronizes and the struggle is no more. I then increase the load and ramp to up the heartbeat and maintain the effort. I smile. As long as I relax and maintain that magic meditative state, the effort is easy. I keep this up for a couple of hours.

The same is true in life. After the preparation but in the various struggles, there comes a time to meditate and expect that magic moment... the inspiration. I understand what the other wants and I accept it. Everything synchronizes and I smile. Life is good.

Try it... find that magic moment for yourself... find what's missing.



- text © 2013 by Willy

Hiking Resume

OK, so if somebody asks for a resume... and it's to compete for a hike spot... what should I say? Ability, of course, but also I realize that it's a group, that I'll need to mention mental and physical fortitude with people as well as contributions and leadership. How about something like...

"My achievements are many. Hi, I'm Willy and I'm an engineer group leader. I mentor college co-ops and interns to take over for me, and put out fires. I also taught 20 years of evening classes at the local college. And I even taught Faith in Sunday School to High School seniors. I can write well too... have published 200 documents, mostly technical reports, conference and journal papers, but also am a published poet. I am really good on my feet... not only having gone through the Toastmasters curriculum early on but having pushed my club to achieve Top Ten international recognition. I am an excellent people leader and communicator.

"I like the hiking adventure. I've hiked and backpacked my whole life, progressively getting better, so that at age 62, I'm darned good. This year, I hiked Colorado twice, the Smokeys (four times), plus a segment of the AT. Last year it was Yosemite and its High Sierra camps loop, and another segment of the AT with my daughter, and more CO... I'm bagging peaks of CO 14ers as well as AT segments. Have done the Grand Canyon three times (including a rim-to-rim), Mt Hood wilderness, Big Bend, Yellowstone, Everglades, and etc. I conveniently have a mountain trailhead right out my backyard and hike locally three times a week, crosstraining with bicycling, weights and elliptic. I was a certified personal trainer. I'm a no-nonsense ultralighter. I'm not good at snow, but own crampons, snowshoes and axe. I like mother nature and the outdoors but I love the view from the top (like from Vogelsang saddle). I'm slow but sure, and have the demonstrated desire to climb.

"Yes, I do Facebook but only have 60 'Friends,' which is typical of my generation.

"Why am I a perfect fit for this? Because I have the demonstrated desire to climb. I'm in shape... both physical and mental shape. I like hiking, backpacking and climbing... and do it all the time. I'm a mature, seasoned and aged adventurer, so I know a few things I can contribute. I have the good attitude and enthusiasm for it. I'm fluent in Spanish, my original language. I have real friends... the face-to-face kind I drink a beer with. So... best of all... I have people skills."

That should do it. That's about what I turned in. We'll see how an aged adventurer rates.

- © 2012 by Willy

Up To 14K Feet

[This was early June] From the Denver airport, and after visiting my daughter, I drove west on the interstate to Georgetown. There I checked into its Super8 motel, ate and went to recon the winding but excellent 12-mike fresh-paved road up to the trailhead to Mt Bierstadt, atop Guanella Pass.

I found the unlabelled trailhead at an unlabelled parking lot right after a sign indicating the top of the pass (at about 10K feet up, as expected). The unlabelled trail started left of the outhouse on the parking lot. Upon walking a hundred feet into the trail, I found a trail sign (which said 7 miles, as expected) and a Mt Evans Wilderness designation sign, and I was ready for the next day's excellent adventure... I identified and could see my 14K quest.

- © 2012 by Willy

14-er and Wedding

Yes, I climbed my first Colorado fourteener, and the daughter got married, a couple of weeks ago.

 

The wedding went just fine, but there was a funny... we started the wedding without her mother. I walked daughter up to the altar and was in the pew before she noticed... then we had to stop and get on a cell to the cousin in charge of the pick up and found out that the ex just wasn't ready: she stood up the wedding. I'm glad I'm not married.

Of course, 14-er Mt Bierstadt was the easiest one so as to not risk drama to the daughter's wedding. Up 3300-climb-feet in 4 miles in 3 1/2 hours, then back down slow with a couple of interesting geezers in 4. In these 8 hours, I drank 2 quarts of water and ate lunch at the top (which was cold and windy), but it was a walk in the park. I even took crampons (which I did not need), but not the ice axe the daughter wanted me to carry (which would have been ridiculous). I'm glad I'm trained.

Life (ALL of it) is about training and conditioning. Next I do a hard climb, like Long's Peak, 6K ft in 7 miles and technical. I'm trained for it... life, solitude and Long's. I like what I am.

She made a lovely bride, and had a great party.

- © 2012 by Willy

Life is a Decision

Life!

That was an easy decision.

Many runners say that life is just putting one foot after the other. The trick, unlike running, is that a decision has to be made for every step. Life is complex. Plans are changed for us. Many decisions have to be made very quickly... about as quick as when running.

The trick is to be prepared for opportunity... and trained for obstacles.

Personally, I keep to a schedule... doing the same things at the same time in the same way... so that I can deal with the all-too-common perturbances that life throws at me... those I can't control... the "incoming."

This weekend, I was glad I cross-trained well to both hike and lift heavy weights, because I had to physically bring down an ailing hiker with vertigo who fell backwards, twice. I was worried that he was going to split his head open, so I side-hugged him, grasped his shirt, physically held him up straight and marched him down in lockstep. I gave him encouragement, even though I was scared. Afterwards, I was exhausted... it was squats-while-walking for six hours... my legs and right delt are still burning.

I have often mentioned that I made a decision to go solo... to do a simpler life with far less drama... which allows me to do what I want to do.

Life's about training and conditioning... in many ways.

I can't be young again but I decided for life... that I'm going to be a REALLY-tough old man. The old is easy, but the really-tough is... tough!

- © 2012 by Willy

Colloquialisms and Repetitions

The vernacular or colloquialism for the ubiquitous upper-booty tattoo is tramp stamp, which I learned from one of the sharp young people I mentor (I sometimes wonder if I learn more from them than they learn from me). This tat fact might have been actionable information for me thirty years ago but not now. We also discussed that brainwashing (frequent repetition) is not limited to Madison Avenue, to which she informed me that she already does that... tell all the boys, often, how cute she is. She also states that there is no kill switch on awesome, to which I could not help but LOL.

For twenty-one years I've worked out with younger Dallas, my brother from another mother, who continues to educate me as we press weight while I retell my experience... to laughs from both of us. Here, the reps are essential in order to stay huge.

I also repeat cardio to stay fit. While performing an early-season hike with my old buddy Ray last weekend, I praised him for his endurance (we did 12 miles and 2400 climb-feet in 6 hours). He replied that it was just putting one foot in front of the other, to which I remarked that this was true for life in general, and we both laughed while we bushwacked a shortcut.



Tomorrow is long and slow hike day, again. Today I did my usual early killer step class at the gym, some leftover weightlifting, got massaged and then again met a small group for an easy afternoon bike ride. I'm back to endos... mountain biking... besides my street rides and mountain hikes, whether in rain, wind and cold... or not. This year I'm training to bag a couple of 14ers in Colorado (hike to summit mountains above 14,000 feet). I'm bagging the peaks solo. My daughter says she's proud that I'm a badass. I'm tweaking my cold gear too... adding wicked crampons and killer ice axes, with which I'll boggle my neighbors' minds while aerating my front yard.

No matter the jargon, repetition and training are essential in life. It's all about having fun being bad... over and over again.



- © 2012 by Willy

No More Drama

There are always people out there with a screw loose. I used to think that with a big enough screwdriver, I could fix 'em. But, no, I've had enough in life already. It's time to avoid them when possible. Yes, I may have to accept them to some degree when it is not possible to avoid them. It's a decision to be made and I'm now clued in... I figured it out: It's not a yes or no, not black or white, not diet or exercise, not machines or people... I like the right kind of people. Just like getting the right kind of car. It's a shade of gray. And this acceptance makes for good mental health, albeit it being conditional or partial acceptance.

- text © 2011 by Willy

P.S., no, I will never own an Italian car either.

Things Happen

Personal best happen and races get won, just like injury happens and we get sidelined... good things happen just like bad things do.

Is this luck?

I don't know when something is luck and when it is providence, but I believe in preparation: Good things happen when preparation meets opportunity, and you will be given the opportunity if you are prepared. There is no real control over opportunity but I sure can be prepared. I believe in training. Train like you play, because you will play like you train. I also believe in a higher power just like I believe in this chicken-and-egg cause and effect.

So, do we create our fate?

Both good and evil are out there. Evil is everywhere. Evil is not ugly and firebreathing, but charming and beautiful. It mesmerizes and seduces you until it makes you doubt yourself. Yes, evil functions best when nobody believes in it. Our decisions create our fate, and our decisions are based upon both good and evil influences. Things happen due to influences. I pray that my Father gives me the strength of character to keep me from temptation and deliver me from evil.

I'm going to stick to solo exercise and diet no matter the injury, no matter what shape I'm in, how stressed people make me or how attractive they are... whatever the siren song. I have faith that there just might be a reason to stay prepared.

- © 2011 by Willy

"You Look Terrible!"

I was sweating enough to create a puddle on the floor, ending the second of three hours of cardio at the gym when somebody hit me. I open my eyes on the stationary bike to see Emily laughing. "You look terrible!" she said. I took the complement, got off the bike, wiped the sweat, chit-chatted, and got on the treadmill for an relatively easy last hour. She looks terrific, I told her, since she also exercises constantly. I actually do strive to LOOK terrible, since that keeps women off my back, but I can out-press anybody at the gym at 61 years of age (100-pound dumbbell sets, anyone?), plus out-hike most people except true endurance athletes. I am all about function over form. I drive a junker truck and live a low-key but adventuresome life. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.

I'm training for a two-week hike in Yosemite, and 3 hours of cardio a day is the minimum. I've been doing 6-hour 14-mile 2500-climb-feet hikes on the mountain on weekends. This weekend was a hot one, reaching 110 degrees, so I went to the gym today. Two weeks of vacation hiking is a long time for daily foot abuse, so I've gotten Nike Air hiking boots to cushion my heels, although they are VERY purple and gaudy, just the way Nike likes them. It's function over form here too.

Yes, life is good.

- © 2011 by Willy

Yet Another Adventure

Life has been busy, with no time for blogs. I continue my fantasy that I'm indispensable at work, I've been trying to clean up home after some tornado damage, and been training hard for my multiple summer hike adventures.


I nicely completed two back-to-back hikes. The first in The Smokeys followed by an A.T. hike in northern Virginia and West Virginia... going up LeConte with old folks, followed by multiple rollers in VA-WV with my daughter, and a home mountain hike my last vacation day. I was proud of myself, having done 8, 8, 17, 16, 5, 0 and 10 miles of hilly terrain in a week. Not bad for an old man, and good training effectiveness ("train like you play"), even though we did violate our established rules.

I continue training for an upcoming two-week Yosemite trip... up Half-Dome, then a circuit in the High Sierras.

- © 2011 by Willy

Dallas Waxing Eloquently

OK, so I've weightlifted with my buddy Dallas for twenty years now. He's usually quiet but every now and then the Holy Spirit comes out and he gets philosophical. That happened tonight.

I mentioned that I did not want to hurt this massage therapist's feelings and Dallas responded with "Did you miss your first day of Codependents Anonymous? Where you stood up and said 'Hi, I'm Willy, and I am not responsible for anybody else's feelings.'" "Oh!" I said, "Let me write that down... that's good," as I reached for my cell phone while he did some reps.

That wound him up and he hardly paused, continuing, "I remember Doctor Smith telling me the three different types of dependency:"

Lord, I trust you to take care of me, and not some other things or people. - Prayer of the dependent.

Lord I trust you to take care of me, and not me take care of me. - Prayer of the overly independent.

Lord I trust you to take care of the people that you bring into my life, and not me take care of them (don't be quick to take care of them). - Prayer of the Codependent.

"Unconditional love is a fantasy. People can't do it. Can only get it from God. God desires to fill my vacuum. People try to fill it with drugs, sex, money, muscles and etc." Amen to that, brother.

Discipline

I do what I can with what I have.

I'm friendly but I keep to myself unless engaged. There were three gals talking in the weightroom area. I had done cardio, warmed up the rotator cuff and had already done a delts circuit. I was on my second heavy set, minding my own business, when Carol showed this new gal her squat form... pushing up her chest and back her butt... and I lost concentration completely. After wasting time at the treadmill until they left, I went back for my last remaining power sets and finished my heavy workout in perfect form, without injury.

I can't control the wind but I can adjust my sail. To adjust, I withdrew.

I also love real chocolate ice cream but I can't have any and haven't had any in years. I'm still in irrational love with The Ex, but withdrew there too... I will not have anything to do with her, and haven't in years... after shedding many a tear. I can't choose how I feel but I can choose what I do about it.

Life's all about accepting and exerting self-control, which is no easy feat sometimes. How else would you live this day?


- © 2010 by Willy

Why Do It Again?

Yes, I climbed LeConte, again. I like to, and do it all the time. Some times once a year. Last year it was three times.

I am getting old and I prefer the devil I know to the miracle I don't, but the daughter makes me hike somewhere new with her once a year, this year it's the 100-mile wilderness in Maine.

To LeConte, I usually go with a big group. Some of us race to the top (4 1/4 hours via Rainbow), and drink hot toddies while waiting for dinner. The next day we race down (3 hours via Bullhead), then drink beer until the rest of the group get down, usually hours, then we carpool home.

I do enjoy the challenge, and the racing is the excuse to hike at my own pace and by myself. The slowpokes jabber about flowers, birds, scat, bear, and who knows what else.

So, does this solo character flaw make me special? Hell if I know, but I do become the spider web clearer and maybe the bear bait, and, lordy, I saw a lot of evidence of bear this time, although not the actual bear. Last year, a mama bear came straight for me, looking for a handout. I whistled till my ears hurt, and had my walking stick ready to poke her in the nose, but she disengaged the pursuit.

I do get a thrill... a smug sense of accomplishment... on these regular hikes, and revel in the mountain views and wildflowers. Even the wildlife.



-© 2010 by Willy

Outplay Them

"Excuse me... do you have the time?" said one of the two young men in front of the mall's record store this morning.

Translated it means "Hold on there until my buddy blindsides you. And, by the way, do you wear a Rolex?"

I said "No" forcefully and kept a fast pace. He wanted to know when the store opens. I said a second "No." He walked after me in frustration as I kept him in my peripheral vision, but finally stopped.

The next step would have been to press the button on my switchblade.

This was early on a Sunday morning, while walking the mall due to inclement weather. I carry my handgun at night but seldom go out then, and haven't been in a bar in a decade or two. I haven't had an incident like this in years and years. I live in Podunk and we have little crime.

I'm 60 years old and so many pounds have transferred from my chest to my gut that it seems I've gotten to the point that I no longer repel punks. I remember the good old days when some road rage idiot would get out of his car, I got out of mine and he stopped cold, mumbling while he got back in.

The truth is that I can no longer fistfight nor run away, so my options are down to being more aware, reducing opportunities for incidence, and increasing the counter-lethality to match.


If you can't outrun them, outplay them.

But if I cannot evade, outplay or outthink them, I will shoot.




- text © 2009 by Willy

Plan Checklist

Lessons learned from this year's backpacking trip with Jennifer (written at Pinkham Notch lodge library).

- Don't plan on hiking in the heat! If it's in July, it'd better be up north.

- Don't plan on hiking at too high an altitude! Dad doesn't have time to acclimatize.

- Planning ahead, everything ultralight and minimal.

- Don't even start unless dad has really trained well, is the right weight and uninjured.

- Look at the plan! And again, this time from the eyes of a 60-year-old!

- Don't hike on the day we fly in.

- Keep the mileage low for the first couple of days to warm up to the place.

- Daily mileage less than ten (there won't be anything easy).

- Come up with exit strategy, Plan B or bailout points (won't be anything easy).

- Nothing longer than a week (won't be anything easy).

- Plan on rain (in equipment, slow days and dryout spots).

- Take the GPS and extra batteries, no matter the weight (15 hours/set of 2)!

- Remember that daughter is in MUCH better shape than her dad!

On-the-way procedure that works is for dad to break camp at daylight and let daughter catch up later. Also for daughter to go ahead on climbs and wait for dad at the top. Daytime food to be on the run (bars), with one big sitdown at camp end-of-day. Drink water continuously and generously (bladder and bottles).

- © 2009 by Willy

Feeling It On The Skin

I've been out feeling nature at her best. It was a beautiful, sunny day... which has been unusual lately... so I rode. It's been raining so much that I have bike-commuted seldom this year.

Seeing me get ready, my neighbor commented on the projected high temperatures today, to which I responded with a smile that a bicyclist creates his own cooling wind on such days. I'm grateful that I can and do get out, whether it's biking on a beautiful hot day like today or hiking a rainy and muddy mountain like last weekend... and that I have control over my life. Today I was blessed to have had a headwind going in but a tailwind coming back (some days it's a headwind both ways... really!).

Headwinds and mountains are great trainers, without which I would not be fit, nor appreciate nor have the easy days.

On my heavy commuting bike I did 2 hours at 15 mph which is a little slow, but much better than my neighbor's alternative, or that of my children's mother at her nursing home.


- © 2009 by Willy

P.S., psssst... yesterday hiked my favorite mountain again, 6.5 miles at 3 mph.

Exciting Hike

It's always exciting to go do an out-of-town hike. The mountains were clear this time, going against their name. At the Smoky Mountains' Ramsey Cascade trail, a big 200-lb mama bear with 3 cubs found us and came towards us. We bunched together, made noise and eventually she went away, but we had a few anxious seconds, which will be retold for hours. A solo hike might have been scary, so there is safety in numbers, if not peace.

The 8-mile Boulevard climb to Mount LeConte took me 4 hours, and I came in 3rd of 16 to the top, beaten by two ladies... one with a bad back and the other with recent knee surgery. Not great but not too bad either.

I continue my Saturday hikes in between my bike commuting, with the Sunday 55-mile loop ride getting shorter lately due to the extreme heat. I've got to admit that I'm now in much better shape for hiking than biking, mostly because there's shade in the mountains. In today's group hike, we did an 8-mile 900-footer in 3 1/2 hrs, with a rescue afterwards. And still lift and do daily cardio at gym.

I do what I can, and I do a lot.

- © 2008 by Willy
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