Frankie

This is a clarification post. Now you know.




Okay, so here is the deal. There is this thing called a whipping post. The whipping post was used a form of punishment in the oldie day's of lore. It was a brutal form of punishment, and wasn't severe enough to actually take the life of the punished therefore it was highly feared.



As society has developed and human rights have increased forms of "physical" punishment and torture such as the whipping post have been removed from our day-to-day culture. However, intellectual, rhetorical, and emotional punishment is harder to control. If you have read a my blog you will have noticed that I've made reference to an individual as the particular source of my rant. I have each time named this individual "Frank."



Frank is a real person. Frank is my colleague, coworker, roommate, and friend. Unfortunately, for him, Frank is my whipping post!



His name has become the call tag for my rants. Therefore, he will always be associated with what I am criticizing. He may not always deserve this but I have to have some sort of word association for the reader. Now I could change it up and use different names each time, but I don't feel that is fair to you as readers. Familiarity to the subject is crucial to my subject matter.



There was nothing he did to initiate this abuse (although he did shoot me at close range in the ear with a rubber band) but his reaction to it was so priceless and beautiful that it stuck. If I am murdered in my sleep then you probably know who did it because he might end up killing me over this.



I feel like I should redeem myself and say some good things about Frank, and there is a lot I could say, but I think that would defeat the purpose. I mean, after all, it's not going to kill him.

TeamKit

I have never been one for much need for association to groups. I've never really been the lone wolf type, but just haven't found it necessary to belong to an established group. I never played competitive team sports competitively as a kid. My parent's weren't super into it, and it was a bit to structured for me. By structured I mean I couldn't change my mind on what I wanted to do every 5 seconds. I played a lot of sports (i.e. baseball, basketball, football, hockey, and trampoline) with my dad, older brother, and friends, but I always liked having the ability to jump from one sport to the next because I didn't have the best attention span.

Since I never had been part of a team I was really surprised to have the experience I had dawning my team kit for the first time. During this last winter I became part of a Northern (I mean the real Northern) California and Southern Oregon Cycling team Etna Brewing Co./ DeSalvo Custom Cycles. Being still fairly new to the sport of bike racing (crossed over from Triathlon) I was excited to be part of a team for many reasons, but mostly because it would offer me some discounts and people to train with.



When I picked up my teamkit this spring I was mostly excited to have a couple new jersey's and bike shorts because it was just that time of the year. However, when I pulled on my Etna Brew bibs and jersey for the first time I was overwhelmed with the sense of pride! It gave me an immense feeling of accomplishment and instilled a huge amount of drive in me. From that moment in time on all I have wanted to do is train more, train smarter, train harder, and race race race race my bike. The issue of jumping from one sport to the next on a whim as vanished. Everything in my life is now structured around insuring I get to ride my bike six days a week, and race as much as possible.

Being a part of a team or recognizing myself as part of something has been a very positive experience for me. I now have more understanding why so many people pursue association with a social group in the vast array they exist. It even compounds the significance of Chuck Palahniuk's book Fight Club.

Are you correcting my spelling?

Disclaimer: This post has absolutely nothing to do with the outdoors!

I grew up in a family that obsessively corrected ever miss spelled word and grammar error I ever wrote or spoke. I am grateful that I was raised in a family that cared enough about my education to put in the effort to teach me the correct way to read, write, and speak. It influenced me later in life when I finally chose my major in college as a Bachelor's of Science in Human Communication. The well established background gave me a advantage in all of my public speaking classes as well as researching and writing a copious amount of papers.

I find myself as a college graduate and, what I consider, a moderately well educated person still having people correct what they interpret are miss spelled words or grammar mistakes. This really annoys me! I can understand the assumption that a young kid has spelled a word incorrectly out of error. However, one should not assume that all words spelled untrue to traditional form are in error. We live in a free thinking world, or at least some of us like to think that we do, so why should we forcibly conform our use of language. Its barbaric. In the art world its an insult to trifle an artist expression even if it is outside the traditional realm of art, but somehow it is okay to presumably correct someone's self expression through words. If I so choose to spell a word a certain way or not put a comma in my sentence or string multiple sentences together without the traditional means of punctuation's who cares?

Personally, I think that there are much bigger issues in this world then if I used affect when I should have used effect or since instead of sense or just simply didn't feel the need to go back and change the fact that i didn't capitalize my i or put in that letter I left out of a word. I will give all due respect to the english language and there are situations where I believe sentence structure and spelling should comply to a traditional form. But in the end it is a language that is ever evolving. And, so what if the traditional rules are slowly falling off. If they are falling by the wayside it just means that we don't need them anymore because the are out dated and superfluous. Some might say, we have to draw the line somewhere or it will be anarchy. This is not a gateway drug situation. The world is not going to fall out of orbit and were not all going to die if I don't spell every word the way it is in the dictionary. Stupid Webster anyways!

None of this is to say that I disagree with the proper education of language, speaking, spelling, and grammar. But at some point do not just automatically jump to the conclusion that someone has made a mistake, and then feel the need to jump in and prove how much smarter then them you are. And, even if it causes major issues for you emotionally, mentally, and physically allow nontraditional thinking and expression to happen.

Do I hate weekend warriors?

I was in a conversation with a colleague (we are going to call him Frank) a few days ago regarding "weekend warriors" as he called them. This conversation turned into an interesting and fun debate. Enough so that I felt like sharing it.

Frank started the conversation off by saying that he hated "weekend warriors" (WW's). I first asked him how he wasn't a WW. Frank, you see, works a full time, 5 day a week, 10 - 6 job. Therefore, he only has two days a week to go out and get after it. Frank got defensive with my question, as you could imagine. A definition of what a WW is was needed for us to continue on.

Irrelevant picture #1

A WW, according to Frank, is an individual who only engages in outdoor activities on his/her days off. My initial question remained. Here is how he made the distinction between himself and what he considered a WW, "I am LIVING the dream." How is Frank "living the dream" more then a WW? Well, because he "get's after it every chance he gets." I proclaimed that only made him a super weekend warrior at which point, Frank threw his hands up in disgust with me.

While I had a bit of fun at the expense of Frank's poor argument it did get me thinking about the subject. If we stay in line with Frank's definition of WW's then in order to not be a WW you can't work. Work, at least for me, is a really hard thing to avoid. I think that it take a unique person and or trust fund situation to have the ability to live in our society and not work. There are some that are exceptional athletes or adventurer's that have the opportunity to get paid to go do cool shit all over the world. That demographic represents probably less then 1% of the population though.

Irrelevant picture #2

What I think Frank was getting at, but poorly stated in his argument, was its not the frequency of activity engagement that makes someone a WW. Rather it is the person's mentality that makes him/her a WW. The best way to make the distinction is there are three kinds of people in this world. There are people that are to tired from work to play (WW's), there are people who don't play at all, and then there are people who are to tired from playing to work. Personally, I love Monday's because I get to go to work and for some well needed R&R.

Irrelevant picture #3

In conclusion, I don't hate weekend warriors because they are the ones working while at work which gives me the opportunity to nurse my wounds and soar body from playing to hard. As for Frank, well, he has a lot to learn.

PCT...Does the C stand for Commercialized?

Recently I found myself on a section of the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) in Southern Oregon. Now, while I was making my way along the trail I was noticing the blue diamond shaped markers place in the trees. These markers are approximately placed 30 to 50 feet apart, and they line the PCT.

These markers really got me thinking! And I kept asking myself the same question. Has the PCT gone commercial?

(Staff hiking PCT section in Southern Oregon)

Now, do not, and I repeat, do not get me wrong. I have a great deal of respect for anyone that treks the entire PCT. It is physically demanding and a great accomplishment. But at this point, to me, the mental aspect of it seems extremely dummed down to the point where anyone can do it.

(PCT in Southern Oregon)

What's the challenge? There are books that outline what you need to pack, how much time you need, the gear you should buy, the locations of where the next shower is, the addresses you need to ship your food to, the shops along the way, the what, why, and how is all done for you. To top it off you don't even have to worry about getting lost because the markers lead the way.

(PCT in Southern Oregon)

Isn't half the fun of an adventure like the PCT planning and figuring out all the details? How is just showing up fun?

(Staff hiking PCT section in Southern Oregon)

Now, I know some readers will ask, well have you hiked the PCT. The answer is no, and I know that I lose some credibility because of that. But the truth of the matter is that I currently have zero interest in hiking the PCT with the hundreds of other hikers that are out on their field trip. For me there are better adventures. Ones that are still pure and haven't been dummed down for the masses. If I run out of idea's and creative adventures in my lifetime then I will hike the PCT.

(Staff hiking PCT section in Southern Oregon)

I think that occasionally we get become so passionate about our activities and hobbies that all we want to do is share them other people. We want to see more and more individuals also feel passionate about what we do. In order to do this we have to make the activity accessible. This is both fortunate and unfortunate. Again, I find myself asking the question, are we commercializing an activity like hiking the PCT to much?

Everyone Is an Expert

In the outdoor industry and community we deal with a vast array of individuals. Let me be very clear here, ALL of them are experts. If you don't believe me just listen to two climbers talk about the proper application of an item. Listen to rafters talk about how to rig a boat. Or, listen to skiers talk about what ski is better for variable snow conditions. And, yes it is rude to tell them to shut up.

So, what is the reason for this phenomenon?

Well, as an expert myself, it is because were all trying to prove ourselves. We have this need to look knowledgeable about stuff. But most of the time people are just talking out their ass!

The way I see it, actions are louder then words. Don't tell me what gear I should be using if you don't actually use it. Knowledge comes from experience not a catalog, coat rack, or shelf. Plus, discovery is part of the fun, so don't spoil it. If your actually getting after it, then you don't have time to talk about shit, and people will come to you for advice because you will actually know what the hell your talking about.

I'm not hating the folks out there that are book smart. Even though I don't give a shit about the blah blah blah about the blah blah blah. Street cred is just more beneficial is all.

The Forecast

There is a high pressure system moving in and there is no new snow in sight. Now, as an avid snowboarder who's lively hood and emotional stability comes from being on the snow you might think that I would be upset, depressed, or even scared about the current conditions. However, we are currently experiencing spring like conditions up on Mt. A, and I don't know about you but I love the spring.

Spring time riding is some of the most enjoyable riding. It is warm, slushy, and progressive riding. Plus you get an awesome goggle tan, and we all know that a good goggle tan is how we let the rest of the world know that we are hardcore mountain people. Therefore, with the idea of having to spring sessions in one season I am stoked. Also, at the end of a spring session is what gets me stoked for the next season, so it's kinda like having two seasons in one!

Remember that there are always positives in every situation. Your mountain might have lost a couple towers in a mud slide, your mountain might be experiencing high winds so it can't open, the road to get to your mountain might not be open, or even worse your mountain might have received to much new snow to ride because of avalanche danger. So, just remember that it is still early in the season, and relax. Work on your early season goggle tan. I know I will be!