The Joy of Mountain Biking

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Just jumping in. Our library has some spotty Internet tonight.

There's no cell, but we're basically living in the 70s.

Everyone riding around on bikes, riding to friend's houses to gather them up to go to pickup other friends. Running into friends on the bike path and downtown.

Lots of community helping each other.

Paying with checks and IOUs at stores

We're really lucky, our town seems to have escaped a ton of of the damage. Without Internet we're blind to what's outside and getting 3rd party news.

Lots of people without power, Verizon cell tower working for phone and text.

Helicopters every few minutes at the hospital landing and taking off.

I'm not sure when I'll be able to bike on trails here. May head into Pisgah with the chainsaw tomorrow if I can't get enough Internet to work.
 
Not to hijack your blog but this had some pretty good footage of what you guys are dealing with.



Ida was incredibly traumatic and devastating for us and we escaped pretty light. I can't imagine what this is like down there, hope everyone you and everyone down there recovers quickly.
 
Just jumping in. Our library has some spotty Internet tonight.

There's no cell, but we're basically living in the 70s.

Everyone riding around on bikes, riding to friend's houses to gather them up to go to pickup other friends. Running into friends on the bike path and downtown.

Lots of community helping each other.

Paying with checks and IOUs at stores

We're really lucky, our town seems to have escaped a ton of of the damage. Without Internet we're blind to what's outside and getting 3rd party news.

Lots of people without power, Verizon cell tower working for phone and text.

Helicopters every few minutes at the hospital landing and taking off.

I'm not sure when I'll be able to bike on trails here. May head into Pisgah with the chainsaw tomorrow if I can't get enough Internet to work.
Glad you guys are safe !
 
First off, I want to reiterate that Steve, Franklin and I are all good. The only "damage" we had was water in the basement (which was cleaned up quickly) and lots of leaf and small branch debris. We never lost power (only cell/internet) and we did not lose any trees on the property.

Secondly, I really don't have much to say right now. We were blind to everything outside our immediate area for days so seeing everything now just re-emphasizes just how lucky we were. We've opened our home to any of our friends who need water, laundry, power, etc... or even just some company. I hope there is more I can do in terms of donations (I've already given some money to a friend who was buying supplies for distribution) and trail maintenance when things are deemed safe to do so.

I thought I'd share a few pics a friend took while out riding and seeing some of the damage.

Near our house (with google maps as a reference). Despite how close it looks to our house (.3 miles), we are up on a hill and safely outside any flood zones.

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At the entrance to Pisgah: Dolly's ice cream bar and the BBQ place across from it and the Hub

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Avery Creek trying to get to the horse stables

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Road to the fish hatchery

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Just before Coon Tree parking/trail head

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just before Looking Glass Falls

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quick updates:

haven't been riding my bike much... equal parts tired, lazy, weather and darkness. i have been doing a bunch of hikes and even got a small group of friends to join me for a night hike to Cat Gap/John Rock in Pisgah last night. As mentioned in another post, i'm getting a small telescope so i can hike out to some spots at night for a little star gazing and the people i've mentioned this to are very interested to join me. so yay! group hikes!

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below photo by: https://www.instagram.com/pisgahpaparazzi/

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we have a trip to Sedona coming up in early march... but this will be mostly for hiking. Steve will also being doing a race thru Antelope Canyon at the end of the trip so I am trying to figure out a guided tour thru one of the other canyons/trails (private land... permits needed... if you've been, i could use some advice here).

in october, we are planning on hitting up the Grand Canyon again... this time to do the full R2R2R in one shot. Steve will be running/hiking it while I'll just be hiking it.

Franklin still has a lot of health issues and we're regulars at the vet's office. he's doing better in terms of eating and being playful and stuff, but he is losing weight and we're trying to get a grip on that.

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i've made some of the usual new year's resolutions but we'll see how everything pans out.

i feel like i should have more to say, but i'm actually quite tired today... i've been up since 1am and i'm pretty beat.
 
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My supervisor just announced his plan to retire September/October of this year.... The first thing I did was to make sure those October vacation days for the Grand Canyon were in the books (they are).

Do I want his position/responsibilities? Fuck no. I don't think they'd offer the position to me. I am the most senior of the group (by a long shot) but after my previous supervisor's untimely departure, I basically told the Editor in Chief that I want nothing to do with those responsibilities.

Do I think they'd promote one of the other copy editors? Possibly. It would be a good morale booster to promote from within the company. BUT if you ask me, neither is a good fit for the role. One needs his hand held way too much (he's the one who's had trouble logging in to his laptop and he's the one I'm supposed to teach to be my second backup 🙄 ) and the other is just too young and meek to be in a role of authority (at least at this point in her career).

I do know they'd at least post a job position for a regular copy editor to fill his spot. But any way I look at this, I am not looking forward to another change in the production lineup. I knew his retirement was coming (I was thinking it would be like May 2026), but I think he's gotten fed up with the company and is just like "Fuck This Shit. Peace Out." now.
 
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@MissJR hope you guys are doing well.

random out of left field question

I seemed to recall you and @Santapez did some trip to Arizona and saw Lael Wilcox hiking her bike?

This morning I was browsing YouTube for something to watch while zwifting and randomly landed on this mini documentary about her setting the FKT on the Arizona trail (829 miles!)



I thought of you guys because there’s a section where she dismantles her MTB and like 50lbs if gear hikes with it on her back through some canyon section where bikes are not allowed.

Was this when you saw her ? Maybe last year ?

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@MissJR hope you guys are doing well.

random out of left field question

I seemed to recall you and @Santapez did some trip to Arizona and saw Lael Wilcox hiking her bike?

This morning I was browsing YouTube for something to watch while zwifting and randomly landed on this mini documentary about her setting the FKT on the Arizona trail (829 miles!)



I thought of you guys because there’s a section where she dismantles her MTB and like 50lbs if gear hikes with it on her back through some canyon section where bikes are not allowed.

Was this when you saw her ? Maybe last year ?

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yep... Grand Canyon. April 2022

was kinda hoping we might be in the video but no such luck

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so this question hit home for me.

The early days!

Everything was new, and everyone seemed so knowledgeable.

First real responsibility - wanting to deliver. Impress someone, everyone!

Slowly start identifying the stuck people - going to zip by them.
Maybe a job change, promotion?

New tech comes out and you embrace it, cause those other people aren't - even if they RTFM, the words mean nothing.

tick, tick, tick, like a blur.

Now you do more than everyone else, and they still want more.
Kinda heart breaking.
My advice hasn't changed, if huge number of hours are the norm, and not the exception, then ya have to push back.
"what can slip if this is a new priority?"

Topping out might be the story of everyone talented that doesn't want an executive mgmt role.

riding/hiking/vacationing become way more appealing than work.
Work will still be there.

It feels like you are embracing the good parts tho - remote work, general flexibility.
Hopefully that continues until you really want to train a replacement.

retirement is very busy - the honey-do list doesn't create itself...
You've got a bit - and who knows what it will look like ???

Maybe paid to give bike tours to the visitors!
 
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