rocky mountain HIGH

high on life that is!

so, a bunch of men gathered above steamboat this last weekend, camping in the midst of the mighty open space of sky and meadows and trees that is rabbit ears pass. bunch of lucky guys that they are, eh?

more women need to show up at these events... please?!

there are so many posts, blogs, pictures, reports about the weekend i feel like i have nothing really more to say. go look at mtbr and see for yourself. these men with cameras are just something else!! (ALL photographs here are provided by EdEmtbs and AnthonyS. Thanks so much guys!)

for me personally, friday's ride was just spectacular ... yet again new trail for me (blush), and a wicked good time it was. the climbing was such a lovely pitch, and the descending completely put me in my place. the company was inspiring and and uplifting, and i feel lucky to have been a member of the the group for the day. how i didn't flat on that sincerely gnarly rock-fest is beyond me. how i didn't eat-it is also a mystery. i must not have been moving fast enough.

saturday's ride was a good solid slap in the face! we hit some of the same trail as the day before, but took a rather faint left at one of the junctions and headed up another freaking luscious climb. this time, i trailed ed and clay ... and frantically chased their strong asses up and up and up. for goodness sake, guys!!!! that was a spectacularly rippin' time!!! countless undulations of ups, flats, downs, ups and more ups, and the corners were all super sweet, and the trail was just challenging enough to keep me from thinking about anything but trail trail trail. truly one of the best yet this year ... trail wise anyway. wish i was feeling as strong as i think i should.

this is all just fluff. really, the only thing i wanted to write (publicly) about is..................................................... how full and deep my heart is for one sweet creature: Randall:

Randall belongs to one very interesting young man by the name of Joel. Well, really, Joel belongs to Randall. And Randall, belongs to an elite class of pupps (9years a pupp) who get to actually accompany mtb'ers on solidly long rides.












Randall is a model dog. He is smart, kind, sweet (unless you have facial hair), he is fit, and just as positive and motivating as one could ever want in a companion. Here he is modeling for Ed in one of the numerous water encounters along the trail (damn he is a smart dog):


















This is Randall showing off his multi-tasking skills (smiling, running, looking beautiful, keeping up, herding the mindless mtb'ers):


















This is Randall doing a thoroughly impressive job of chasing down a run-away freight train (note the still blatantly obvious joy he exudes, as well as the stealthily-chaotic way he remains completely invisible to the run-away!):
Many of us could learn a lot from Randall.

















However. It seems that he does not know when the fool-hearty mtb'ers try to trick him into sleep:




I do not know what you would feel like after his spectacular efforts +1 beer, but i for one would look/be nothing as present as this picture of Randall seems to portray. that said, many of the mtb'ers from the RMH gathering this weekend seemed to be able to partake in such wildly PBR tainted adventures and seem none the worse. How DO they do that?

that said, my dear friend and comrade fell to the mileage and push of such a deep exhaustion:
I imagine that i would look something like this just after a beer while on the mountain bike... not two days worth of hard-ass chasing . My goodness, Randall.

Randall, my personal opinion and advice is thus: please slow down, please take it easy, please eat more, please just don't follow joel to the ends of the earth. playing ball is fun.

I have acutally been in this state. and when in this state, the only thing i can comprehend is the need for food, and the apparent edge of Being that i feel like i'm about to cross. were i not able to get my own food, or keep conscious enough to not slip into oblivion ... i just don't now what would happen. aw Randall, my wish for you is endless piles of beef jerkey and hot dogs at the end of every ride!!!

In the end, it's all about satisfaction, and the joy of hard effort, skill, love, attention, focus, presence, and peace ... no?

Randall... i hope you are recovering well.