Trail Mix

People get into cycling for all sorts of reasons - health and fitness, competition, social imperative, fun, necessity, thrill. Some, perhaps, do so on a dare. Some, like myself, have done it nearly their entire life, and don't know anything else, don't know how they would fill their time, or accomplish some of those things listed in the first sentence. Some get into cycling for adventure, or maintain their cyclist status in order to fill a need for adventure.

When I was growing up there was a kid who lived a few houses up the street. Well, there were a lot of kids who fit that simple description, but this kid got into skateboarding just as that 1970s boom was sounding. He was good at it, very good, and I was not; in fact I was the exact opposite of good. Not wanting to be left out, however, I grabbed my brothers board one day, put my left foot on it, pushed off with my right and landed flat on my azz. It was my first, and last, attempt to joint the skateboarding crowd.

Well, junior high came and went, high school came and went, and we moved away from the old street into our own lives however distant, or close they happened to be. The old moms were pretty good about keeping in touch with one another after their kids all grew up and went away, so I would hear a little about what some of the kids from the neighborhood had made of their lives, but nothing more. Then came the miracle of Facebook, and its ability to reconnect ourselves with people we knew from twenty, thirty, forty years in the past. 

I knew Glenn had become quite the photographer and videographer and, while both of those may have involved adventure in their ways, his latest project most certainly falls into the adventure category - documenting hikers, and hiking, the Appalachian Trail. If you are one of the cyclists who list "adventure" as among the reasons you "do it," check out Trail Mix: The Through Hiker Journey on YouTube, and / or, Glenn's Trail Mix Documentary page on Facebook for more.

Most of all, never stop seeking adventure.