Sunday, April 7, 2013

The Secret Passion That Keeps Me Active... It's Not What You'd Expect

There I was in Tensleep Canyon of Wyoming, half way up a route, all handholds small and sideways, and a tiny foothold just above knee height that was just asking for my use.  I lifted my leg and touched it with my toe.  I gave my foot a wiggle to see what the hold could do.  Then, I proceeded to weight it.  The world stood still... it was last Tuesday, 4/2, at about 3:47, just in case you wonder why you suddenly paused and took a deep breath.  Alas, my foot held onto the tiny nubbin, and I moved upward. Of course I fell off about three seconds later, but that's not the point.

That moment, my friends, is one of the reasons why I love climbing so very much.  It is the relationship between a man and his climbing shoes and the mysterious capabilities of the material known commonly as rubber.  I find I am deeply fascinated by the way the soles of my climbing shoes mold around tiny features in such a way that it is "squeaky sticky", yet firm enough that the very thought of chewing on the end of my climbing shoe makes me drool.  Folks, for the first time in my life, on a blog that has been viewed across the world, I am coming out with a dark secret about myself.  I love rubber... I mean I really love it... a lot.



My affections for the remarkable substance don't stop at my climbing shoes.  My love of rubber doesn't discriminate.  A couple of months ago, we bought new tires for our car.  This meant we got to visit the tire shop at Costco.  Though my wife is sickened by the smell of tires, when I walked into that store I paused to snort-in a giant whiff of the glorious smell of tire.  I wanted to run around feeling every tire in the store, perhaps chewing on a few.  I particularly love the truck tires with the very deep tread.  I love the squeakiness.  I love the "sort of firm but not really" feel.  I love tires.



Have you ever noticed that, while you are riding your bicycle, you have a front row seat to the wonders presented by your front tire.  So the saying goes, "the wheels on the bike go round and round", and the whole time I'm riding, I'm watching (and drooling) with fascination over the show that unfolds before me.  I love how road bike tires are so smooth, yet very sticky, and how they develop a flat side after many miles.  I love the way mountain bike tires change colors based on the terrain they face.  I love how they mold around the rocks in the path, and how they gain little gouges as they wear down.  Mmmmm.  I suppose my deep love of tires was one of the contributing factors in our recent sale of our second car to buy my fat-bike.  Of course, I have to ride my bike to school every day, in wind and rain and snow, but it is a small price to pay for the privilege of getting to ride on those giant, squishy tires.



Let us now make one last stop on our exploration of the wonders of rubber.  It would seem that I'm becoming a bit of a trail runner.  In amassing piles of miles training for my 50-miler this summer, I've derived great pleasure in gazing at the soles of my shoes.  As the tread wears, it becomes rough, pliable, gooey, squeaky, ... Oh, is there enough adjectives in the world to describe its wonders?!  Like bike tires, as the soles of my shoes grip the dirt, mud, rocks, logs, and sand, they develop small scars and sometimes donate chunks of tread to the trail.  The bottom of my shoes tell the story of my improving running form as well.  They used to wear out at the heel, now they wear all across the bottom of my shoe, more so on the outside edge of my foot where I first make contact with each stride.


Like the famous fable of the tortoise and the hare, this tale of my secret love of rubber has a powerful moral as well.  There are a million reasons to stay active and healthy... not dying of congestive heart failure being one of them.  More often than not, though, it takes a lot more than fear of heart disease to get you outside and moving on those tough days.  Most of the time I get out because of my love of what I do and my desire to get stronger.  But on those days when getting stronger feels pointless, and not having heart disease sounds too far away, getting out takes a little something special.  That special thing, for me, comes down to enjoying a bit of drooling over a working bike tire or a climbing shoe edging on a small nubbin of rock.  Mmmmm, makes me want to get out there right now... or perhaps at least chew on my shoe.
Perhaps it's a vitamin deficiency???