There and Back Again

Week 6 of "quarantine" in the NECX. Picked Zoe up at Smith on 3/13. It was surreal. But if there is one thing I am actually good at it is taking care of my family. We are really lucky. We can stay home. We have everything we need at home honestly. Hasn't been easy. But we can go out. Lots of places are in full on shelter in place mode. You go out you can get fined a grand or arrested. The new normal for me and my family has been to take this very seriously. We are lucky to live in the Commonwealth. I actually trust that the Free State of Massachusetts has our best interest in mind. When they tell me to wear a mask I wear a mask. Speaking of masks as I headed out on a little #DIYgravel today one the many email groups I am on sent out an update that Holliston had mandated that any one going outside needed to wear a cloth mask. I have been wearing a LWC buff on all my rides. I have been putting off going on one of my favorite loops out to Holliston and riding the amazing rail trail that goes through because it was sure to be mobbed. I get it. Schools are closed. Gyms are closed. Yoga Studios are closed. All anyone has is the outdoors. 

People have been flooding all the parks and trails near me. Lots of the parks have had to close down because people are not social distancing. I have rediscovered road riding mainly because it is the most chill option on the bike right now. But gravel is my thing. Whether it is riding a sweet rail trail or legit mtb trails on my CX bike. You can call it Mixed Terrain. I can't. There is no elegance in that. Gravel is elegant. So as I headed out on my little gravel adventure I was crafting an email response to the list. I had checked a few responses to the initial post. I honestly don't get the mindset that feels wearing a mask is overreacting. Get used to it. Cause that is going to be the new normal. And frankly, it is masks or go full California and shut it ALL down. Predictably when I hit the rail trail in Hollis it was MOBBED. No one was social distancing. Half were wearing masks. Of those 50% most were not wearing them correctly. I feel like Jesse James at this point. Cap pulled low over my eyes. Ray Bans on. Black LWC buff pulled up over my face. I know the buff isn't really going to offer much real protection if someone happens to have corona. I do my best to keep my distance. If anything this whole thing is making me a much more patient person.

Six weeks of riding in the woods and trails with people who haven't been on a bike or hiking since they were a kid can be frustrating or you could have some empathy. I have been super chill. People say sorry all the time. I try and be nice and say "no need to say sorry" We are all in this together. And I mean that from my heart. We are literally all in this together. People are trying to politicize this. The Vice President refused to wear a mask to the Mayo Clinic. Let that sink in. I miss my friends. I miss riding in groups. I miss all the gravel events that we all look forward to each year. This weekend I would have been riding Greasy Joes with the coolest crew on the planet. But for now all those rad events are either postponed or canceled. In the big scope of things it is NBD. I feel so bad for High School seniors and NCAA athletes who missed out on playing their last games for their schools. I feel bad for those who missed out on all the life events they had planned and worked for. And I feel for all those on the frontlines working in hospitals, grocery stores and first responders keeping us all living our lives as normally as we can right now.

Which brings me back to today's ride. The same as every ride I have been doing since March 13th. Which are the same rides I have been doing for about a decade. Ted King put out an idea called #DIYgravel. Basically a way for all of us to do our own gravel rides together but apart. Do it yourself Gravel. I love it. There are a few people who inspire me these days. Ted is one. Alison Tetrick is the Queen in my mind. She just 100% gets it.  Jake Wells is another. The whole EF alternative program speaks to me. That's it these days. I met Ted at the first Rasputitsa. Met I guess is an embellishment. Tim heckled us from his new car as we wrestled our bikes off our roof rack. Ted was in the car with Lynne. But Ted seemed cool. He embraced gravel in a way most haven't. He seems so genuine which is a breathe of fresh air to say the least. I am not a podcast guy but love his podcast.

No disrespect to Ted but gravel has always been DIY. Even as it has blown up it remains DIY. And this has been very frustrating for lots of people coming from traditional racing. Gravel rides even those that are super PRO are imperfect. There are a lot of moving parts. The course is open. Guess what you may be bombing down some bombed out gravel road in VT and yeah some guy in a Subaru is coming up the road with zero clue that you are on the wrong side of the road. That is on you my friend. Deal with it. These are not cross races. They are at best adventure rides. Honesty they should not be races. I love that racers are doing gravel. But leave your racers mindset at home. You have to take care of yourself. There isn't a team car. The route may be messed up. Aid stations may be out of water. When we first started doing these events we didn't have Garmins. Frankly the first time we did one of these with a Garmin as a team we got so lost it was ridiculous. I love having to navigate by feel. Whether it is via trail blazes like the one above from the Bay Circuit Trail or DIY trail markers. Or actual maps. For the record I NEVER spray canned Landlocked forest. Ever. I see little spray can blazes popping up here and there and do not like that at all. That type of DIY is not cool. That my friend is vandalism.

As I said, even with the proliferation of Garmins and Wahoo GPS systems I have never bought in. I have clearly benefited from those Trail Wizards who create the routes and set the trail. But at some point I am going to have to freelance. Sorry, not sorry. I like to surf the earth. I see a little feeder trail and I want to check it out. A friend shows me a route and I remember it. I have a pretty good internal GPS. It is not perfect. But honestly I have never gotten lost. Maybe I have temporarily gotten off track. But I always find my way back to where I wanted to go. It took me a while to sort it out on the east coast. On the west coast you pop up on a ridge and see the ocean. And then you know which way is west and therefore have figured out North, South and East. And voila you are no longer lost. But on the east coast in the woods? It is like the Blair Witch Project, It is soooo easy to get turned around. Cutler the most traveled spot in this area is like a hell mouth. I have found so many lost people out on the Island.

I love the saying "all that wander are not lost" And that sort of sums up this time we are living in. And how I am riding right now. I am finding all the rides and moments on the bike right now as gifts. We will get through this. Will things go back to "normal"? I don't know. I think the new normal will be better honestly. I am not saying it will be easy. We may be in for some tough times. I feel for all those suffering. And we are all going to have to work together no doubt. We have a lot of digging out to do. But I think we are going to learn to be more empathic. And my time with my family right now is a gift. And when I see my friends? Oh damn. It is gonna be the sickest Ronde de Rosey you have ever seen in your damn lives. Sure it may have to be April 2021 but mark my words. It will be off the hook.

As we move forward and god willing perhaps things open up in the summer. My hope is that those Trail Wizards out there can put together their own DIYgravel rides. Low key. Word of mouth. I need to see my crew. I need to be sitting on Jimbo's deck drinking a cold beer after the ToH, hanging with RCaddy at the Back Eddy after laying down some rad gravel, at my Co-DS's house after the LoB, and Dirt Church with Gewilli. Perhaps at MSH after a sick Hell of the South. We got this. Be safe. Pllllleeeease. No car, No gnar and Not far. As Haymitch said to Katniss "Stay Alive." That is our job right now. Keep your loved ones safe. Wearing a mask isn't just about you not getting sick. It is keeping that kid working at the grocery store from getting sick. It is keeping your grandma or dad from not getting sick. We are all in this together. Peace.