Sports: September 2005 Archives

I was out sailing yesterday courtesy of D_____ at work. The weather was quite blustery and gusty, which made for fun sailing.

I had a first yesterday. I was up by the mast trying to loosen a line and the boat heeled over quite suddenly. I slipped and ended up with my feet in the water, being dragged, with my arms hugging the mast while I regained my footing. It was quite a surprise to all concerned. I'm klutzy sometimes, but I've always managed to stay in the boat before.

The rest of the trip was fabulous. We had strong winds and the new sailors caught on quickly and seemed to have a had a great time.

Hope the weather holds and I can do it again this year; the sailing part -- not the holding on to the mast for dear life part.

I did the Cannon Valley Trail yesterday with some co-workers. We had a great ride with very comfortable weather. I really enjoyed being able to ride with people who could challenge my biking skills without leaving me completely in the dust. I kept up with the leader from Red Wing to Cannon Falls. On the way back to Red Wing I fell behind the leader, but not enough to bruise my ego significantly. At least I had the excuse that I was on a fat tired comfort bike, instead of a skinny tired touring bike. (A poor workman blames his tools, I know, I know.)

There were some stretches of trail that had enough of a grade to keep the ride a little more interesting than the Lanesboro trail.

The winery in Cannon Falls was an interesting place to visit. We got to see the grapes being dumped into hoppers, whisked up by some sort of vacuum device, arriving in a big hopper where they were presumably crushed.

One year ago, if you would have told me that I could ride 40 miles without any problems I probably wouldn't have believed you. Now I think I could probably do a 100 mile day if I planned it right.

I'm hoping to do one more big bike ride before the weather turns. The Grand Rounds looks like it might be a good candidate.

The leaves that kept falling on the trail underscored the inescapable fact; fall is here and winter is around the corner. I can't live in denial any more.

Aras wrote a nice post on climbing, kayaking and life. Nice work, glad to see you posting again.

Danger doesn't motivate me as much as it does Aras when it comes to outdoor activities. It's not that there aren't dangers; after all I go solo backpacking which isn't exactly what your life insurance agent recommends. My outdoor activities are more motivated by feeling alive and discovering beauty. It does seem like I've gradually upped the risk level over the years, but that was more of a side effect I think. (Now Aras might disagree with this assessment since he has been in the woods with me more than a few times.)

When do I feel the most alive? It's when I'm out sailing or hiking. I went for the annual sailing trip last weekend. We had good wind and a fast boat.