Operational Focus!

When I was young we cut firewood for winter warmth. We started from standing green tree and ended with stacked firewood. One particular incident stands out in my memory. Dad cut a tree down, pruned branches off, and then cut the trunk and larger limbs into sticks of firewood. When he finished I waded into the underbrush, grabbed the largest leftover branch, and started wrestling it free from the tangled mess. I was the smallest in the family by 8 years. Dad questioned why I, as the smallest one in the pack, set in on the biggest most immovable branch.

Fast forward a few decades to my departure on a 700+ mile self supported bike tour. I targeted 100 miles per day and started building a routine around that. Minimize stop time, setup 15 minute cycles of riding in aero to push speed and reduce drag, lock my nutrition and hydration to that same schedule to sustain performance and pound out miles ala Ironman training. On a scenic trail steeped in history dating back to the 1820's I focused on the biggest hardest tangible obstacle.

I wanted this trip to be a physical challenge to make use my Tour Divide training. I hit my goal daily mileage goals with 90, 90, 100, 120, and 120 miles in the saddle.

That was the easy part as it came natural. My second goal was a bout of self reflection. I needed to focus on some abstract intangible problems.

Riding the debris stricken trail on Saturday was a symbolic change of gears. Normally, on my home turf, I would pack up a bow saw and long handled sheers and start clearing branches. Here i had no such gear. Conditions specifically forced me out of my SOP. For now I need to let those lay as they fell. Appreciate the chaos of nature as-is without improvement. Accept the micro, focus on the macro, and bring my own internal ship about. I've always loved a good storm. This is yet another example.

I spent days playing in the unstoppable flow of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers and hiking up unyielding mountains until my heels bled from blisters. Conveniently I also avoided hard cycling amid a multiday heat wave.

Mother nature offers some great lessons in macro thinking. Gravity in the air and currents in the water are great teachers about macro forces.

One step uphill is trivial. Summiting a mountain is an undertaking. Is it necessary and is it in the right direction?

Clinging to a rock to avoid washing downstream is easy in slow currents for short periods of time. Increasing either yields a multiplicative if not exponential increase in difficulty. Failure means careening down river slamming into a rock or raking across hidden jagged edges. Is it necessary and is it the right direction?

West Virginia is wild and wonderful. It is also wise albeit in ways that may not be appreciated by all paradigms.





Picture from Maryland heights.

Saturday's reroute through Antietam didn't pan out as I opted for trail canopy over narrow sun baked paved roads. I stumbled into copious military history around Harpers Ferry. For a pensive mind human military forces complement nature's macro forces.