Cracks in the Concrete: A Motorcycle Odyssey Through Modern America

Stealing the title for this post from one of  my favorite Dawes' song of the same name . Unlike that song though, I don't expect this post to be a tearjerker (unless you're cutting onions while reading it). Since it'd be boring to share my big update at the beginning, I'm going to save it till the end of the post, like one of those annoying clickbait articles.  Since the half marathon, I've been up to a lot in western NC: white water canoeing, hiking, more mountain biking, rock climbing, reading, lifting, pickleball, more running, job training (we'll get to that later), rediscovering my jump shot (still haven't quite found it), watching academy award winning movies, winning (B-League) volleyball championships, going to concerts, battling intense pollen allergies, and doing A LOT of dishes (gotta earn my keep somehow). I won't subject you to all of that, but below are some quick hitters on the highlights (and lowlights). Whitewater Kayaking I've c...

The first thing I did after arriving in Black Mountain on 5/15 was trade my motorcycle for a mountain bike. Justin had arranged for me to join a group ride near Old Fort organized by Kat, a local bike mechanic and friend of Justin & Liz.  The mountain biking crew. Photo taken before things got hairy. It's been a week and a half, so unfortunately I don't remember everyone's name, but I'll try my best: (left to right) Forgot (starting off on a bad note), Kat, Tim, Shannen, Forget, Roger, Yours Truly. Behind the camera: Vaddis (definitely spelling that wrong).  Kat, Tim, and Roger work together at the local bike shop. Kat decided to become a bike mechanic a number of years back when she was living in northern Arkansas. She was working as a waitress at the time and would bring lunch to her future husband, Adam (who was unable to join the biking outing on 5/15), who was working as a bike mechanic. On these lunch visits, she realized that he seemed to be having a lot more...