Adventures in Onionism

From an NYT travel article about a bike trip in the Four Corners area: Something else had changed up here, too. It takes nearly a day on these trips, John said later, but you always see it: Shoulders drop their tension. Eyes unpinch from their accountant’s squint. With every mile, the in-box and the BlackBerry retreat a little more in the rear-view mirror. People shed their daily worries, until their world reduces to the clean feeling of the right gear underfoot, and the blur of the gray road. As Mike put it: “I don’t have to think. I don’t have to do a damn thing, if I don’t want to. I get to ride my bike.” Articles about a family biking from Alaska to Chile. Guardian UK . Salon .

Something didn't work out like I'd hoped today, so I listened to Rage's Killing in the Name of , then fueled by a fresh dose of self-loathing left the office for an awesome 3 hours in the hills--up to the top, down to Orinda, and back. It's been far too long since I've run there; I live too far west now, so I need to get back in the habit of going from school so I can hit the hills nearly every day. The run was fantastic, so I'm sort of thinking about running the Headlands Hundred in a week and a half. I haven't been training, but since when has that stopped me? The course has changed slightly since last year, but it's still 4x25-mile loops, which doesn't excite me, nor does the $200 entry fee (despite my interviewing today for a one-day GSI training gig in August that pays $200). We shall see. I've got an open weekend, so maybe I'll do a long run and see how I feel. Today was also the last of my 5 REI presentations. They were a pretty good e...

Two REI Presentations: Pretty good reviews, with the inevitable exception from someone who clearly does not get my sense of humor. Three more this coming week. Inception: I almost always disagree with David Edelstein, and thus I loved this movie. Yojimbo: Badass Capturing the Friedmans: Interesting. American Splendor: Did I mention Harvey Pekar makes me happy? Our Cancer Year: I really dislike the art, but the story is great. An Unreasonable Man: Ralph Nader is cool. I wish I believed in something like he does. Dead Weather live at the Warfield: Even from the nosebleeds, Jack White and his giant eyeball backdrop are phenomenal. The Human Condition: Got disc 1 (of 4), haven't started yet. Ran several times but wasn't really feeling it, gave my bike a decent post-trip cleaning, picked 12 pounds or so of wild blackberries, made two pectin boxes worth of freezer jam, baked fresh honey whole wheat bread, and will make a pie tomorrow.

I rode my bike 770 miles or so from Salt Lake City, UT to Sacramento, CA. I started Sunday morning at 8:30 and finished Friday night a little after 11:00 PM. As usual, all during the trip, I imagine the wonderful, informative blog posts that I will write when I get back, full of helpful gear lists and vivid descriptions. Now that I'm back, however, I'm already bored, suffering from post-adventure let-down, wishing I were still biking, and thinking the Internet is stupid, so I don't really want to write about it. However, I'll force myself to do it now, otherwise it will never happen. So, what do I think of bicycle touring? I like it. I certainly still plan to do a longer trip someday (preferably with Marcus, since marriage is no excuse, buddy.) But do I like it as much as backpacking? It's different, that's for sure. It's more like hiking the Appalachian Trail than the CDT--it's a cultural experience, not a wilderness experience. I was on roads the entir...

He just made me feel OK with both life and my attitude about it, that's all. I'll miss him. NYT obit Cleveland Plain Dealer obit Fresh Air remembrance show Ohio Public Radio site with Pekar's commentaries

All done. Rode 160 today despite diarrhea and heat and chain giving me grief, making me eat it a few times. Train home tomorrow from Sac.

Plus, can i maybe do state cap to state cap in one day? It would be big, not quite sure how big.

Super 8 in carson city. Don't know why i got another motel room, maybe it was the 109 degree temps and tons of traffic and sprawl. 112 for day.

Not far from fallon. Butt very bruised, have to switch btw saddle positions every 3 minutes and crank standing, which is less easy w saddlebags. Still ok tho

133, camped at the shoe tree! Hot and flat after austin.

Austin nevada. 70 or so done. Aiming for carson city tomorrow night. Think it will get a little lower and hotter till tahoe. Finally got whole bottle vitamin i.

Did 126 to get to eureka. Everything closed at 8 so i am still buying vitamin i by the 4 pack at gas station. Camping at rv park. Mennonite breakfast tomorrow.

Made 108 yesterday. 20 this morning. Would love 105 more to eureka. Slightly cloudy, which is nice, but burning off.

90 miles so far today, 100 degrees, one tree. Only one more state named nevada to ride through!

Why does my body crave processed nacho cheese after a long sweaty day? Did i sweat out all my mono and diglycerides with the sodium hexa meta phosphate?

120-plus miles from slc to delta on my first day, first long ride ever. Cheap hotel and ice in order if i want a chance to do it again tomorrow.

Crappy gas station microwave burritos in eureka utah, 65ish in. Damn i love the open road.

Elberta utah. Jct w hwy 6. Feeling good. Neck tired from holding head up.

45 minutes in, waiting out my first storm for a couple minutes.

Here goes nothing!

start tomorrow am. Sent most stuff home with friend, will have to carry a few things to po on monday, no biggy. Delta tomorrow? I don't know how far that is.

At Paul's in SLC. Him and Kate have all the tools I need and a bike stand, so that's a huge help. I tried to tune the front derailleur but I can't quite figure it out and I'm out of patience, so I'm just going to take it to REI where they said they can probably squeeze it in while I wait. I like to think that I'm somewhat competent with bike mechanics and that I enjoy it to some extent, but I'm definitely not an engineer/tinkerer type. I managed to fix my commuter's front derailleur last week just fine (except for the lack of tools at the place I was house-sitting), but my fancy new one with STI shifters is a whole new ball game. Other than that, I think I've got everything I need except for spare nuts/bolts for my rack. Now I just have to decide what I'm actually bringing with me and what I'm sending back with a friend.

I am doing 5 Bay Area REI Presentations in July. If you're able, please come to one or more and heckle me by shouting out embarrassing personal information from my past. Here is the blurb the REI organizer wrote, along with dates. The Sierra High Route & Beyond: A Thru-hiker’s Dream: Since 2002, Garret Christensen has hiked the Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail, the Continental Divide Trail (a yo-yo thru-hike), and more. Tonight, Garret will share slides and stories of his most recent adventure–a 450-mile summer traverse of the Sierra, from Olancha north to Tahoe City . Join Garret as he travels the spectacular Sierra High Route, a 195-mile route (half-cross country, half-trail) above 9,000 feet, which showcases the best of the Sierra. Then, follow him the rest of the way on the Tahoe-Yosemite and Tahoe Rim Trails. Come learn pointers on ultralight packing, route planning, route finding, and safe backcountry travel. Find out how this thru-hiker extraordinaire covers 20...

I'm packing for my trip. I've been buying some accessories and gear the last few days. If I can I'll try to buy a new digital camera tomorrow morning. Friday I hope to ride the Alpine Loop (around Mt. Timpanogas) with Marcus, preferably all loaded up as a test run.

Marcus had a layover from 8PM to 6AM the next day, so we went on a long night trailrun through Tilden. Mostly my innards were trying to explode so I just sat and dry-heaved while M swam in Lake Anza at 3AM. M also provided a wonderful epiphany--since I'm a cynic and believe that all organizations are corrupt and the system is rigged and will always be so, my best chance for lasting happiness is to become evil and abuse the rigged system. Previously I'd thought my best option was to live in a remote cabin and chop my own firewood. Yesterday I started to run all 136 sets of urban paths/stairs in the Berkeley hills. I got about 1/3 to 1/2 of the way through in 3 hours and realized it was pretty boring, so I bailed. Too much backtracking and pavement and stuff. Pretty great stair workout though. I finished reading Ted Conover's Rolling Nowhere , about a college anthro major who rode the rails to see what it was like. Apparently all hobos are short-tempered violent racist tooth...