You know: my dog died, my wife left me, and my truck won’t start. Or something like that. None of those things have actually happened to me, but the last week has been particularly trying and emotional.
The past week also perhaps marked the most socialization and close contact we have had with other humans since the start of the pandemic, but at least Omicron is not running rampant in our local community yet. One of the fun, but overwhelming, activities this week was taking the holiday lights trolley in Santa Barbara. This is definitely something I have never done, but our dear friend Nichol (an exhausted and dedicated nurse, who has spent much of the pandemic on the front lines in the ICU) decided that she was going to make the holidays festive this year, reality be damned! Part of her festive plot involved renting an entire trolley for her friends so we could enjoy the open air Christmas light tour around the city. It was WAY more noise and light stimulus than I have experienced in many years; honestly, it felt like what I imagine an acid trip to be like 🙂 Sensory overload.
Honestly, Jesse and I desperately needed to get out of the house and do something silly that night. By far the worst part of last week was that we had a sudden and unexpected death of a young (46 year old) woman in our circle of friends – she leaves behind her husband, a dear friend and colleague of mine, and a vibrant four year old daughter. It continues to be heart wrenching. I only hope that as a community we can find ways to support her family in a sustained and welcome manner. With the holidays approaching everything moved fast and we were able to attend a celebration of her life this weekend and hear so many beautiful stories about the way this fabulous woman – a friend, mother, daughter, wife, and science educator has touched the lives of so many and her light will shine on.
I’ve been making great progress on my technical mountain biking skills lately, both on single track climbing and technical descents. I love that at my age, and even without coaching, just by consistent practice I can still experience clear improvement. However, due to a combination of pushing the envelop of my skillset and riding a lot I suppose it is somewhat inevitable that lately I have had more crashes than in recent years. Fortunately, thus far none of those crashes have had lasting effects!
In the fun camp, Jesse and I went to our first large indoor concert with strangers since the start of the pandemic. The concert series had a vaccination requirement and we wore high quality KN95 masks. Most people were on board with the requirements that allowed us all to gather in a manner that felt safe, though we did get unlucky with snarky people in the seats in front of us that couldn’t seem to talk and wear their masks at the same time. We just couldn’t pass up the chance at seeing Bela Fleck and Friends touring in support of his first Bluegrass album in 20 years. It was the first time I saw Edgar Meyer perform on stand up double bass and he was the star of the show for me! It was so nice to see high quality live music again! The show ended later than I’ve been awake in recent memory and when we walked out to retrieve our bicycles – parked right in front of the theater in reasonable lighting – my front wheel was gone. Grr…. I always lock my frame with a sturdy U-lock, and put a light cable around my front wheel. For over a decade this simple act has been enough to tell would be thieves to move along, but my luck ran out and they cut the cable. In addition to the wheel they also stole my helmet which was strapped in the cable lock. I stood there in the cold and waited while Jesse rode his bike home and got my car to come fetch me. It was an unfortunate end to an otherwise lovely evening.
The good news is that since I volunteer at a community bike shop I was able to pick up a very reasonably priced, but high quality, used front wheel and work on reassembly at the shop. Unfortunately, they also stole my thru axle and I had to pick that up at a local retail bike shop – it cost as much as the wheel! But, $100 dollars and two days later I was grateful to be riding again. I love Bici Centro and what SBBike/COAST do for our community. If you are still looking for somewhere to donate a few bucks for the holidays they are a great cause: https://www.sbbike.org/donate.
Other good news: we are planning to bikepack over the holiday break. Again, challenges continue to pop up*. Getting my bike ready (moving my rack over and making sure everything mechanical is happy and healthy) has involved repeated work on my screeching brakes, spending days chasing down bolts and nuts to secure the rack that still aren’t perfect, but will hopefully hold, and mailing my suspension fork back the company for an update and some dysfunction. Even this, like all things lately, has been yin and yang. It was stressful to send my fork in so close to a big trip and the shipping was super expensive, but then they didn’t charge me anything for the work! Thank you MRP!
For months our plan has been to take the train to San Diego and then ride across the border into Baja, Mexico via the pueblo of Tecate (yes, that Tecate), eventually making our way about 250 miles south before taking a bus back up to Tijuana and into the US. We have been studying the route, already have train tickets, and an AirBnB reservation in Tecate on Christmas Eve. We were excited by the prospect of a car free bikepacking adventure. However, the expected Omicron surge is clearly on its way and border rules change fast. Currently the rule to test 24 hours prior to return to the US only applies to flights, but I could see it expanding to land borders prior to our return if things get bad enough. The weather has also been colder and wetter (which is wonderful!!) than normal here and down to San Diego and northern Baja, which is not ideal for bikepacking. In the end all these challenges led us to alter our plans and we are driving to Arizona to bikepack there over the break. This way we will have very little interactions with others and no mass transportation, so our risk of contracting Covid will be very low. We are excited about the new plan, but it took a lot of effort and flexibility to end up here.
Just for fun: When your riding partner gets an ebike and you don’t have one.
We also found some beautiful new art at the top of the trail. I love all the #landback signs I’ve been seeing lately, as well.
Winter gardening feels so slow, but I am grateful that we can grow a few things. I ate my first strawberries this week and we still have peppers from the summer.
Hopefully the next update will include lots of beautiful pictures and fun adventure stories from Arizona. I will also be finalizing my teaching prep upon my return in January, which is exciting. Tomorrow is the solstice, and like many people, my mood is greatly impacted this time of year. I always start to find my joy a bit more easily as the day gets longer, which is why I miss being able to escape to the southern hemisphere in the winter! I’m not usually one for ceremonies, but my much beloved Smartwool base layer that has been on every adventure with me for about seven years is filled with more holes than substance these days. I can’t put it on and off without ripping sounds and getting my thumbs stuck in existing holes, ripping them farther. And my friend Kris gives me grief every time I wear my “holy” shirt on hikes, so in celebration of winter solstice and bringing in the new season I decided to have an official burning of the shirt.
May the increasing daily light feed your soul and if, like me, you are not a big fan of the “holiday season” I send you extra love and support.
* I am fully aware of my privilege to be able to absorb the challenges financially and to be in a position to make such fun plans; however, I am still subject to emotional responses and frustrations when the challenges seem to pile up, especially when those challenges are overlaying a well of deep grief. Overall, Jesse and I are happy, in love, and safe. All is well and we are filled with gratitude for our good fortune.
Another great story and pics. Sorry to hear of the troubles you’ve had lately.
I may have missed something. What teaching prep?
I pray you have a good low key holiday season.
I think you are right — I never blogged that I accepted a part-time teaching position this spring, back at my previous college here in Santa Barbara. I’ll be teaching one class (3 hour lecture and a 3 hour lab) in person, which seemed like an ok idea before Omicron… We’ll see how it goes.
What are you teaching?
Best of luck.
Forgot to mention. Sensory overload is how I describe a TSO. concert.
OMGoddess, as usual your blog is soooo full of interesting stuff. I am so sorry about your friend. Losing a friend at any time is difficult, but knowing the loss their family is experiencing at this time of year for their child is heartrending. Love the garden coaxing along. I think that shirt had lots more wear in it (teehee). Love the pic of you both! The bruise looks about right for what ya did Womyn!
Love you guys, have fun in AZ!