Rapha Festive 500: Day Six
Distance: 66 km Time: 2:31 It’s kind of strange. Today’s ride put me over 500km for the Rapha Festive 500—530km total—but I’m not feeling any particular or special sense of accomplishment. It’s not even that there’s one more day for the Challenge and therefore one more chance to add to my total distance that I don’t feel as though I’ve reached any sort of conclusion. There’s really never any sense of an ending, is there? I originally thought that I’d do a long effort tomorrow...
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Rapha Festive 500: Day Five
Distance: 58 km Time: 2:03 I had a devil sitting on one shoulder and an angel on the other today. The devil was telling me that with 405km logged for the Festive 500, that I should just go out and lay down 100km to finish it off and still have two days left to add to the tally. The angel said that there were three days left and therefore no hurry, especially since three consecutive 4+ hour days can take a toll on a man,...
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Rapha Festive 500: Day Four
Molly was out shooting and caught me on Hillside Road Distance: 62 km Time: 2:15 Some rides just seem completely effortless. On rides like these, your pedal stroke is so smooth and easy, your mind crystal clear and full of positive energy, that time goes by so quickly that you begin to wonder if you have actually been in the saddle for 4+ hours and not in some bizarre suspended dream state. And then there are the efforts that feel like a slog no matter...
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Rapha Festive 500: (Xmas) Day Three
Distance: 107 km Time: 3:58 Though today was Christmas Day, it felt a little bit more like Thanksgiving to me. That’s because as I set out this morning for Day Three of the Rapha Festive 500 Challenge, I promptly began compiling a mental list of things that I was thankful for. Most immediately, I was thankful for the tailwind which helped propel me north out of Baltimore City. Second, I was grateful for the incredible weather—crisp, but not too cold—that I’ve been able to enjoy...
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Rapha Festive 500: Day Two
I see this sign all the time; it finally made sense today. Distance: 115 km Time: 4:15 I am generally not a fan of surprises. I know my mother will be proud to see me write that I like to have things planned out, my life organized, so that I can accomplish everything I need to as efficiently as possible. An unplanned, freeform day is a rarity for me—save for family vacations, during which not having a plan is de rigueur—and whimsical is an adjective...
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Rapha Festive 500: Day One
Distance: 121 km Time: 4:25 Motivation can appear in many forms. Some are motivated by fear—fear of failure, fear of not living up to expectations. Others derive their inspiration from anger, money, revenge, stature, winning. I know all of those people. Motivation in cycling can often be easy to come by—the next big race, setting a new power record, a category upgrade—but when it is scarce, it can lead a person to a dark place. And this time of year, especially, it’s easy to find...
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Voltaire, noise, and difficulty
‘This noise,’ said the Senator, ‘may amuse one for half an hour; but if it were to last longer it would grow tiresome to everybody, though they durst not own it. Music, today, is only the art of executing difficult things, and that which is only difficult cannot please long.’ — Voltaire, Candide
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Good taste
As if I needed another project, but it’s something that I should have started long, long ago. I am astounded when I think about all the wines and coffees I’ve tasted and have absolutely no record or recollection of. Well, no more! Corks & Beans will serve as an online journal and archive of the various wines that cross my palate, the coffees I brew, and the espressos I pull. I’ll also share some of my brewing methods, techniques, and experiments whether they yield success...
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Perfection
Individuals who engage extremely deeply in a given pursuit are often termed perfectionists. Their commitment to a particular interest transcends the activity itself, permeating their thoughts and consuming their general being to the point where an uninitiated outsider might consider them obsessed. It’s also a fact that these types of individuals, these perfectionists, choose to participate in activities in which perfection is an elusive and often unattainable goal. Take music, for example. As a musician, there are a myriad of elements one works to perfect....
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