James Pearl Thinks Blogging is Dead

Norm

Mayor McCheese
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Luke said to me a few weeks ago, "You need to be unhappy again."

This was his nice way of saying, "You know, you used to be a lot thinner and faster." Sometimes Luke can be overly direct, but in this case he wasn't. He wasn't so much telling me he wanted me to be unhappy. It was more a way of letting me know something I am keenly aware of. I am neither as thin nor as fast as I used to be. I am also not as young, but that sort of goes with the passage of time. This is life.

Luke also asked me yesterday, "So where have you been for the last 6 months?"

I suppose this is a fair question. I have been working. A lot. I have poured myself into the newest project, which is really a series of projects under the same company. It's a start-up company where I am a contractor. It is an odd combination but it's not necessarily why I am starting a new blog today. In fact, it has nothing to do with my starting a new blog today so I'm not going to talk more about it right now.

But wait! You may wonder what happened to the last blog about 12 things. I am continuing to go on with that aspect of my life but I have fallen so far behind that the possibility of catching up is really a pipe dream now. I may go catch up a little bit in rapid-fire fashion. Or I may not. Brian @rottin' asked me yesterday what happened to my blogging. I said exactly that - I am so far behind it's not realistic for me to write those posts again and catch up. At least not with the same depth.

Plus, that was mostly an exercise in trying to keep blogging/writing in some respect. So I added pictures and something different. It was also a way of sort of saying that yeah, we ride bike but we also do other things. But in the end, I was not able to keep the posts about other things going.

But this week I decided I needed to get my shit together, so I only worked 40 hours and rode 14. 14 hours and 14 minutes to be exact. I am a person of numbers. The people who have been reading my junk (for however many years) know this to be true. Currently I am tracking a few but it is neither here nor there as to what they are. At some point, assuming I keep this going, maybe I'll start throwing numbers out.

9.

For now, I can button my jeans again. So that's a start.

16.

I also do not believe that announcing your goals openly is a productive thing. I have long suspected this and I recently read that people who openly state their goals are actually less likely to accomplish them. It is theorized that when people say it to an open group it is tantamount to actually having done it. Sort of like, "Ok well I said it, now I don't need to actually work for it."

Unfortunately for Luke I am not unhappy. I guess that is the same as saying I'm happy. So the trick here is to be truly happy and to get back to where I used to be on a bike again. I will admit, as I sit here and write these words I am not sure I believe there is a reality where I am thin & fast again. I know there are people who will call bullshit. And by all means, go for it. But I'm just being honest.

So @pearl says blogging is dead. I'm sure he's probably right. But who knows, maybe not. I'll try to do 4 of these a week. Can I keep that up? @Dominique has been pushing me to blog again the last few weeks. So here we are. I am back, until I'm not.
 

Patrick

Overthinking the draft from the basement already
Staff member
I have a puzzle for yous guys.

That's all I got.

You stated a goal of 4 per week. Great. Just booby trap your own post!!!

It's a jigsaw puzzle. Don't parse.
 

bigW

Well-Known Member
Nice hopefully an undead cyclist themed blog.

I have had some modest success at publicly declaring goals as a method to get me to jump in on some event ( avoiding the desire to turn off the alarm sleep late and eat a Denny's breakfast ) The same public declaration for ongoing goals has proven useless and as a result slightly bad for my self image ( scarfing a box of cookies while reading a prior declaration to go Paleo )

Looking forward to the posts whatever they be.

W
 

UtahJoe

Team Workhorse
Team MTBNJ Halter's
You know you train me based on what you did forever, you should try it, the shit works.

Just dont get too hung up with streaks involving numbers...especially how days in a row you ride. Its nonsense.
 

Pearl

THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING
maybe just all the OG bloggers/appreciators are gone? I still blame the like button.

example; at the time of this edit, 10 people liked your first post, instead of writing something, whether insulting you, telling you that you suck, or words of encouragement. CROWD PARTICIPATION IS ENCOURAGED
 

JimN

Captain Wildcat
Team MTBNJ Halter's
I read all the blogs on here, but I skim over all the power numbers and CX talk. I find other people's blogs interesting, but I'm not interested in blogging myself.
 

pooriggy

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Some of those early ones (cliff bars) were pretty instrumental and motivated me to train and get fast.
I remember my first Cathedral Pines in 2011? Somewhere on Norms training blog back then I read about Cliff bars and refueling and decided to ingest 1 cliff bar/lap. Now, this seemed like a good idea at the time and I didn't have any issues during the race or after 6 laps however the ride home was rough. I felt like I had a Cliff bar cinder block in my bowels. It was a week of some uncomfortable bowel movements but like George Harrison says, All things must pass.
 

JimN

Captain Wildcat
Team MTBNJ Halter's
One Clif Bar per hour works for me. But if I know I'm gonna be out for a really long time, I also bring almond M&M's.
 

1speed

Incredibly profound yet fantastically flawed
I remember my first Cathedral Pines in 2011? Somewhere on Norms training blog back then I read about Cliff bars and refueling and decided to ingest 1 cliff bar/lap. Now, this seemed like a good idea at the time and I didn't have any issues during the race or after 6 laps however the ride home was rough. I felt like I had a Cliff bar cinder block in my bowels. It was a week of some uncomfortable bowel movements but like George Harrison says, All things must pass.

Damn. Just ... damn. I think the most Clif Bars I've ever eaten during any event was maybe 1.5 during a 100 mile race. Any more than that and my gut would revolt. You must have a gut made of cast iron to have survived that. Especialy at CP when it's usually colder -- weren't they hard as a rock? Oh god, I feel bad just thinking about that. My preferred snack for racing is apple slices if I can get them. It's like food and drink all in one without the wonky sugar rush of citrus fruit. I discovered them as an in-race snack at Shenandoah a few years back and they're the best thing I've ever had. You don't need a ton of them -- cut an apple into 8 pieces and eat one piece per lap during a race like CP or something and that's enough.
 

soulchild

Well-Known Member
Unfortunately for Luke I am not unhappy. I guess that is the same as saying I'm happy. So the trick here is to be truly happy and to get back to where I used to be on a bike again. I will admit, as I sit here and write these words I am not sure I believe there is a reality where I am thin & fast again. I know there are people who will call bullshit. And by all means, go for it. But I'm just being honest.

How about creating a new narrative of what role cycling will play in your life? You're not the same person you were 2,3, or 5 years ago. You very well may find success 'getting back to where you used to be', but for me, I found it an unhealthy mindset at this point in my life. While it could certainly be motivation, it could become equally discouraging. Maybe I'll get back to where I was physically, maybe I'll become a better version of that person. Maybe I won't though, and that's ok too. I think that being on the bike is all that matters. Everything else will work itself out.

Either way, I'm glad you're writing again. I live 15 minutes away, we should ride soon.

EDIT:

Now that I read that to myself, why do we insist that things will work themselves out? Nothing really ever works itself out. We make choices (or don't), things happen (or don't) and the only thing that changes is our perspective as it relates to the outcome (ie whether or not it worked itself out). IDK, this is messing with me. Going to Starbucks, will revisit this topic.
 
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