What up, Traipser! Hope summer has arrived in your neck of the woods.
A month ago, I wrote about juggling it all and said "you can have it all, just not at once." Turns out bikepacking plus a family visit threw off my newsletter schedule. Così è la vita!
In other news, I turn 40 on Saturday. A new Corvette to alleviate my mid-life crisis shows up Monday so I can floor it away from reality.
Nahhhh. I’m excited about this next decade and so fortunate to live this life. Music to learn, languages to speak, places to visit, projects to dive into…
One important personal goal for my 40s is to continue honing my ability to set clear boundaries with people. Saying no to things without feeling guilty is a skill I've improved dramatically in the past few years and my life is better for it.
Being one day older only matters if you're a banana. (My mom sends the best cards.)
Tumbling About, Edition 104 features:
You're cooling off all wrong
Give the kids a break
Who needs Band-Aids?
Onward!
Dakota
BTW, my birthday marks two years of piano. It's gratifying to feel my consistent practice pay off with faster song uptake and harder repertoire. Here's me playing a song called Passacaglia that I started working on last week. So meditative to play!
Bikepacking away from it all deep in SE Oregon. Mason enjoying coffee and the totally silent morning.
You're cooling off all wrong
It’s summer and temps are heading north. Luckily, we all know what to do to cool off. Take a cold shower, drape wet towels on our neck after a hard run…
WRONG. Via a fascinating podcast episode on cold exposure therapy from Stanford researcher Andrew Huberman, I learned that those approaches to cooling are like putting ice on a thermostat.
Your body reacts the opposite direction, saying “OMG it’s freezing in here, crank up internal heat!” You get hotter, not cooler.
Instead, it’s better to cool three places: feet, hands, and upper cheeks. Why?
Those areas have what’s called glabrous skin, which is basically fast-heat transfer skin. The best approach is to grab a water bottle with a few chunks of ice in it. (Too cold and the veins constrict, slowing down heat transfer.)
Next time you're overheated, hold those bottles after a workout or between sets! And check out the full podcast here.
Pedaling the magnificent McKenzie Pass near Bend with Chelsea's parents and bro. Keeping up with ebikes is hard work!
The kids will be alright
When I was a kid, I rode a bike to school. My dad, on the other hand, walked both ways uphill in the snow. His dad had to build a school house from logs he felled (in the snow)…
So goes the generational joke, which rotates around the softness of the next generation.
Well, as the insightful book The Nineties pointed out, THAT’S THE POINT. Progress means that things are easier for our kids, not harder.
The kids will be alright. Especially if we accept their reality is different from ours and stop giving them a hard time.
Day 3 on the OR Big Country bikepack and my first time biking across a full-on desert. Not pictured: amazing tailwind that pushed us across!
(Alvord Desert, Steens Mountain in the background)
Band-Aids? I don't need no stinkin' Band-Aids
During my recent bikepacking trip, my friend Sean cut his toe in a hot spring. Rather than deal with a Band-Aid, he had a fancy glue pen from a doctor friend. The cut sealed watertight and didn't get infected, even with more hot spring soaking and days of biking.
Those pens are stupid expensive, but I found a similar product from New Skin. Recently it worked perfectly on a knife cut on my hand where a Band-Aid would have fallen off. A useful addition to any first-aid kit, home or travel!
End of the road for Episode 104 of Traipsing About. Onward to the much-maligned unsolicited advice section:
No matter what your age, is there a personal boundary you can strengthen today that your future self will thank you for?
P.S. This short music video, titled I don't care about your crypto, bro, is just.so.good.
Another goal for my 40s: continuing to draw! I'm still sitting down every night to sketch something and share it with my buddy Eric.