Gonna meet up with a couple of good friends for some pedaling and camping in east Arkansas in a few days...hoping it'll be much easier going than New Mexico mountains in May.

Could replacing drops with upright bars with a graceful sweep make my whole body feel more relaxed and comfortable without sacrificing (what amounts to me as) performance?

It was a splendid morning in the grasslands. In my gushing joy, I was telling myself that the lack of altitude and elevation gain was being offset by wind, hardened clay horse hoof craters, and sand.

It's been about 6 weeks since I claimed to have started building fitness for 2026, but no real progress has been made. Less weather, more saddle time, and more elevation, please.

... photos from my Caprock Canyons overnighter.

Finally, after about 10 days off the bike, pedaling resumed. As the days passed, I felt increasingly old, stiff, and sluggish. In my world, ice is as confining as a coffin, and I had a correspondingly dark mood.

We've been coated in ice for a week, had to get outside for a minute, even if only for a short walk and a brew up.

No, not today. Not while we are coated in ice.

This is mainly a post to share a YouTube video of my overnighter. But it is also an example of why I love Texas winter.

You might be wondering (I told myself) what life beyond instagram is like. Well, it is real. It is real in all the ways. 

A swept-back handlebar mood overtook me. It's been a fairly long while since a had a bike with anything besides drop bars or flat bars with minimal sweep.

The alarm sounded at 5:30am. It was time to begin. I didn't sleep well and considered another hour of snoozing. This was to be a solo outing, so no one was waiting for me. No one, that is, except May 2026 me expecting some basic ability to pedal a loaded bike up mountains. For this moment, on a dark late December morning, it was time to begin...brewing coffee.