Nick, is one who NEEDS nature. He works in a demanding job, he's a good parent, and all this means he needs to get away every so often to "sleep on the dirt" and think about life.
I'm going to invite him out for an s24o. The weather is cold in Santa Barbara right now, but there's no ice on the ground and I'm sure we'll be cozy in our respective tents.
The thing I'm looking forward to on this tour is music. My pal has recently been listening to a LOT of music. We went to college together and were roommates for two years. Among my many great memories is our trips to the music store to flip through new and used LPs. Sometimes I'd take a risk on something in the dollar bin and we'd bring it back to our dorm room for an audition. If it "sucked" we'd actually smash the record against the wall or frisbee it into the night (we were not ecologists at the time, that's changed).
Once in awhile, we'd spin something incredible and sit back enjoying the perfect mix of guitar, bass, drums, and vocals.
I'm looking forward to an s24o with iPods pre-loaded with our current favorites. Nick has been exploring in the area of Country Music (me too -- NEVER would I have predicted this) and I'm looking forward to sharing some recent finds in the genre I like to call "bands trying to sound like Joy Division."
We'll ride out to the one of our sites, plug in some powered speakers and listen to some songs as if it were the early 80s and we were in our old dorm room. For a few hours, our lives will be as uncomplicated as they were back before they unfolded like giant, unweildy maps. We'll ride back to our current, wonderful lives with new energy and new appreciation for our good fortune to be mobile, musical, and in touch.
D
The surf season has arrived in Santa Barbara
The s24o-minded surfer is loathe the fight for a parking space amongst the notoriously over-sized surf vehicles. Why drive to the break when you can do what I did this morning -- load the bike with the board, towel, and a coffee-filled thermos and ride to the ocean. Not all surfers are lucky enough to live within riding range of their favorite spot. But my challenge is this. If you DO live within 10 miles of a break, use your bike rather than your car. It's an easy way to get extra fun and exercise out of your surfing habit.
A bicycle can carry ANY size board. I regularly spot a surfer with a stand-up paddleboard or SUP pedaling along the bike trail to the ocean. He has the board on a simple trailer that looks fit to carry an ocean kayak.
Bicyclists get the best parking. There's nothing as satisfying as riding by the parking lot, down a hill and right to the sand for the fastest vehicle-to-line-up entry short of dropping from a chopper into the take-off zone.
Here's a link that has live video of one of my favorite breaks. If you see a happy surfer on a bike, it might be me.
CowaBikeA,
Don
