3CogBlog.com

     When I go to the doctors office I try to give them something to talk about. I’m sure they deal with a lot of people who neglect their health, I want to give them something out of the ordinary. I see the same thing at my job as a diesel mechanic. A driver will pull up complaining about the a/c in a truck and as I open the hood I’ll see leaks and loose bolts. I can see no effort was taken in maintaining the truck. Other times I can see that a truck has been very well maintained. The damage comes from a component that has simply exceeded its physical limits. That’s what I do with my body. I maintain it, but sometimes I exceed its physical limits.     That’s why it’s fun when a Doctor in the ER calls out to a co-worker, “Hey Dave, you gotta come check this out.” This happened when I scalped myself with the bottom edge of a loader arm. Doctors were coming in from other parts of the hospital to see the injury they had heard about. My wife was working at the hospi...

     I was on an early morning ride and had just completed the climb to the top of The Grind. I leaned my bike where I always do and started my pre-descent preparations. This includes sipping some water, a little stretching, then putting on helmet and gloves. I heard a frantic buzzing sound and noticed a black and yellow bee had become fascinated by my bike. I considered taking a picture, but then I figured most people could picture this scene.      The bee started climbing along the spare tube, then the frame buzzing and buzzing. I looked close and it appeared the bee had bundles of pollen already hanging from it’s back legs. What was causing this bee to get sidetracked from it’s job to freak out over my bike?       I shooed the bee off and it came right back. This lasted several minutes, and finally I had to grab the bike, run it a few paces and quickly jump on to leave the bee behind. This was my first ride of the week, so I thought I...

     I think my problem is that I keep trying to write a post with a bunch of opinion, like, why I hate Strava. But, I always run out of steam because I’m just starting a one sided argument that no one really cares about.      Instead I’ll just tell true stories, the way they happened. I’ve been riding a bunch at Left Hand Canyon. This makes the fourth year I’ve been indoctrinated into the cult of Left Hand. Being in the cult means a day of riding elsewhere is a day wasted. I know the front range has lots of options, and people invite me to go try new places. I just smile and say, “ Yeah we should totally go ride that other place.” But, I know I’m lying. Riding someplace else local would be a betrayal of the dark powers I worship. The demon gods of Left Hand would know, and they would strike down upon me with great vengeance and horrible anger. And I want nothing to do with that.      Me and the demon gods of Left Hand have been really tight ...

 Obviously Strava is the worst thing to happen to mountain biking. This one app has convinced an entire generation of riders that speed is the only metric they should use to judge success. Strava does not measure style, creativity, jumps, wheelies or anything cool. The app teaches riders that, if you are faced with one line that is fun or challenging, and another line that is just faster, always choose the fast line. It does have one redeeming feature though, you can use it as a human Etch a Sketch. I messed around with Strava for a year and it took me a while to get into doodling. I would have a 40 minute ride at lunch time each day. This gave me about 5 minutes to find a location with a a 5 minute ride back, and 30 minutes to create something. That's the same time limit Bob Ross would use! I'll try to break down some tips I learned so you can try to do something creative with the otherwise stupid Strava app. First off... Location,  a nice big parking lot is a great place to ...

       I'm a mechanic, so by my nature I like to know how things work. I get a feeling of joy when I see how the magic happens. When you first get the itch to try repairs yourself there are many magical obstacles before you. For example, look at changing gears on a bike. You are pedaling a bike, you move the lever on the bar *POOF* magic happens! and now the bike is pedaling easier up the hill.       But then you spend a few minutes with your bike up on a stand. You spin the crank and it's hard to turn, so you you click the lever. Then the funky arm moves, the chain jumps to a bigger gear in back and it becomes easier to pedal. Your brain absorbs the idea of what is happening and suddenly the magic is gone. You see the little wire that pulled the funky arm and there's really no magic at all.      Most people are happy as long as the magic happens when they want it. Everyone faces their own challenges everyday and everyone is a magic...

     Last year I burned all my paid time-off by working at a bike shop. Yep, when my real job had no work for me I would leave and go help out a business that was slammed. But, instead of just letting me get a short check that week, my corporate overlords would suck away my vacation time to make full 40 hour weeks. So there was no vacation in 2020...or was it all a vacation?, it almost didn’t seem like a real year.        But 2021 is different, and my wife is a wonderful planner. I love that she plans, because I rarely do. Live life in the moment I say. That’s why I once tried to pull off the side of the road in White Ranch and camp with a girl camper. Then in the middle of the night a police loudspeaker was blasting across the hillside.       “Attention illegal campers! Return to your vehicle immediately or face severe consequences!” When we hiked back to the car he asked, “Did you have a campfire?” I said, “No.” He said, “I don’t ...

 I've officially kicked off the '21 season. I dragged Brian to the top of The Grind, we flew down the traverse, then I led us on a clean run down Brown Town. I finally stepped up to the 'Double Tap' feature. This is a steep slab roll straight into a step-down log gap. It's a feature that I don't do when I'm by myself. But with him on my six, I sent it without hesitation. We pulled off at the bottom of Brown Town for fist bumps. I contemplated hitting the big kicker, but that would be the first big air of the year. I really feel like I should renew my pilots license at Valmont or Erie before I go big at Left Hand. So we rode around the kicker and I told him to lead down Indiana Jones. He'd been eating my dust so it was only fair to switch up. Plus he'd made a few runs down it previously, and this was my first since the snow cleared.  We dropped in and lined up for two minutes of mayhem, when suddenly I saw him wobbling right ahead of me, I think he wa...