What You See Is What You Get

Asheville, Western NC, United States
Now residing back in the mountains of western NC where I was born. I've spent the past 12 years mountain bike racing with many amazing riders all the way from Miami to the midwest. Mountain biking then turned to an endurance endeavor for me in 2002, competing in 12/24 hour, & 100 mile races. I found endurance was my calling , then in 2009 was introduced to endurance running through an amazing group of people in WNC & have since went on to participate in many ultra running events. I feel like the people I ride & run along side in the endurance world tend to be well rounded & driven by the better things in life, purely because you cant fake or be superficial in this endurance world. Everything I do in my life is to allow me the time & energy to keep pursuing my passion of adventure in whatever form it comes. I was gifted life & the gift of an active life by my still inspiring mother Nancy, whom I lost in 1999 to suicide. I've learned through my adventures & losses to have a blast, don't take your self to seriously, & keep going because there is no finish line. This goes out to you mom.

Monday, March 28, 2011

San Francisco Trip 2011





March 16th through March 23 I spent 7 days adventuring the magical city of San Francisco with one of the dearest friends in my life. Every year I adventure to the west coast for a week or 2 to gain some perspective & inspiration. My best friend Jeremi McManus has lived in the Bay area for many years now & has always been the most amazing host & guide each time I'm out there, to say the least. This past week was refreshing, inspiring, & eye opening. SF is hard to believe sometimes, mainly because a huge group of the population  in the city are there to 1st & foremost to live a quality life, as Jeremi would say, " DO YOU". At any given space & time while in the city, there was a good chance I was surrounded by a MD, a yogi, bike messenger, master chef, but somehow we all ended up at the same bar sharing drinks & expressing our like passions for experiencing the beauty this life has to offer. This profound likeness among every group I spent time with this week was always present & without having to share just one similar interest, we all connected in this wonderful place regardless of your bankroll, professional title, or one of the many other things we find our identity in.  I had many of these opportunities to meet a lot of the folks above mentioned because of my dear friend Jeremi M., who exemplifies this passion & surrounds himself with amazing people who are equally passionate about life. I try to make every post here about inspiration, though we can go it alone & learn things out there in the world all by our lonesome. The more & more I try to challenge myself physically & do crazy things in search of those magical doors of inspiration, the most inspiration comes from these connections with other beating hearts. I want this post to be a shout out to you Jeremi, for this is what your pursuit has been as long as I've know you, to accept people & their dark sides, to never say I'm wrong & you're right, in all building beautiful connections that will last a life time. I will take the inspiration from this trip to fuel the flame to keep, growing, changing, loving, pedaling, & running.
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