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| Reid and Josiah at Coffey's Cliff |
Happy Thanksgiving, splitterheads. Here are the year's most-loved routes, places, gear, albums, books, and other assorted favorite things. I love how this year's list features a lot of stuff close to home. And a lot of them can be enjoyed together. For example: playing Magic: The Gathering while eating a Murder Burger at Lo Main? Or a power hour ride with a King Dewey enjoyed at Coffey's Cliff? These are Holy Trinities of favorite things. Let's get to it...
Coffey's Cliff
A dumpy limestone outcropping overlooking the tracks; popular with trainspotters and spotty youths. A great and grimy mid-ride chill spot. "Long live Coffey's Cliff" is graffitied on a bench and I agree.
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| Magic nights |
Magic: The Gathering
In this trading card game I am a powerful wizard traveling across a universe of elaborate fantasy worlds, summoning creatures, casting spells, and vanquishing my enemies. Magic has engaged my imagination and expanded my friend group. It's seriously one my favorite parts of 2022.
Children of Dune by Frank Herbert
I have loved reading the Dune series and completely nerding out in a way that I have not done since I was a ten-year old using our family's free AOL trial CD and dial-up internet modem to browse the Star Wars Expanded Universe databank.
Handsome. Powerful. Self-confident. Elegant. Tiger style, baby.
If the opening tracks of the second-installment to the Vaxis saga are too "popheed" (Disappearing Act is as dance-worthy as a good Robyn tune), then the backend (Ladders of Supremacy, Rise Naianasha, and Window of the Waking Mind) will hearken you back to the days of the roman numeral'd prog suites of Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV. SO GOOD.
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| Traverseroids at the St. Elmo Boulders |
St. Elmo Boulders
Unlike the world-class stone at the top of the mountain, the rock near St. Elmo is coarse, sandy, and more than occasionally "cursed." Your feet could explosively blow off at any moment and your finger tips may not last a full day. But if you're willing to make peace with the choss, then you're almost guaranteed to have a good time.
Lo Main
A good neighborhood bar simply cannot be beat and this one is .2 miles from our front door. Cheap beer. Good food. Great vibes. *The chef's kiss of all chefs' kisses*
Pummeling grindcore from Tennessee. It's creative chaos. It's blast beats and death growls. It's music to make you feel like you're being curb-stomped by Dolly Parton.
A hundred miles of red clay (and sand) roads through canopies of White Oaks, pines, and pecan trees.
PBR + Lime
"Have you had a PBR with lime? It's the reason I still go to church." - my friend, Payton.
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| Brooks at Stringers |
Tuesdays at Stringers
Our local urban wilderness, Stringers Ridge, rides best CCW (Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday). The initial downhill of Double J is the most fun you can have on a drop bar bicycle, IMO.
A perfect after work 5k that links up a variety of trails past Glen Falls on Lookout Mountain.
Post-black metal shoegaze from Russia. Their socials have gone radio-silent since posting a rehearsal video with an anti-war statement on the eve of the Ukraine invasion. This album is as good as anything from Deafheaven. Listen to it.
Seeing MxPx + Teenage Bottlerocket in Milwaukee
Rebecca surprised me for my birthday with tickets to see a pair of my favorite punk bands. Unreal level of kindness. MxPx CHANGED MY LIFE when I was in seventh grade and Teenage Bottlerocket was on my very short list of bands I still had yet to see live. So this birthday pretty much ruled because of the amazing human I married.
Bike Rides and Swimming Holes
Most days this summer were spent riding bikes or going to swimming holes and often combining the two. Pretty perfect. Highly recommend.
The iconic heavy metal design mashed up with one of my favorite childhood cartoon characters and adulthood favorite animal. I saw Kody Templeman (Teenage Bottlerocket) wearing it and I had to have one for myself.
Survivor Season 42
The forty-second season of Survivor ruled. I thought it was a strong rebound from Season 41 and the best all-new cast since Blood v. Water 2, IMO. So many good players that I hope return.
A 16-mile loop ride around the city that takes roughly an hour. Witness the fitness of raw pathleticism as I blast around the South Chickamauga Greenway and Tennessee River Walk.
Bedrock Sandals
Life after Chacos exists and it's better.
Squishy Fork!
I'm a real MTB boy now. My Redline Monocog has seen many variations and this is its best. Catch me over-biking chunky gravel and under-biking the hardest lines on the trail. Ride it like you wanna rebuild it.
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| Acadia National Park |
Acadia National Park
PROS: Rebecca and I spent a week peakbagging, gravel biking, and lobster roll eating in the ancestral lands of the Wabanaki. CONS: Despite Maine having the highest population of moose in the United States, there are none native on the island.
King Dewey
Or, as I like to call it, Appalachian Baby Formula. Equal parts (1:1) Budweiser and Mountain Dew. Don't knock it till you try it.
25 miles of Appalachian gravel: lots of climbing, lots of descending. Never too much of it all at once. You'll either love it or you'll hate it.
Ergon GP3 Handlebar Grips
I was sad to ditch my drop bars when I put on the squishy fork; I like having options for my hands on long rides (and short rides too because I have so much metal in my wrists and hands). I added these and they're amazing.
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| the Murder Burger @ Lo Main |
Murder Burger @ Lo Main
Two delicious patties -- not too thin, not too thick -- cooked to perfection, coated in American cheese, crema, kimchi, chutney, and mayo between two brioche buns: arguably the best burger in town and it only costs $8. My dad said it was one of the best burgers he's ever had.
The perfect after work 10 mile bike loop that links up a six-mile gravel climb with a quick 1.5 mile blast down a mountain highway to some fun, DIYish singletrack and then a neighborhood bike path back to the parking lot.
I love hip-hop but I'm not quite enough of a hip-hop head to wax eloquent about this one so I'll just say this: this album is good. Real good. Like good kid good but more grown up.
Currently Reading: The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Dispossessed checks all my boxes: anarcho-syndicalism, sci-fi world-building, and words strung together with care. The Dispossessed gives us a chance to imagine a world outside capitalism. Another world is possible.
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| Gravel Camp |
Reid brought together an amazing group of people for a fun weekend camping and gravel biking around the Hiawassee River in east Tennessee. The route was killer and the crew super fun.
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
I've always sensed that I was born in the wrong region of America; I think I was supposed to be born somewhere cold and grey. Walking the snowy streets of Milwaukee passed old cathedrals and glowing Schlitz Beer signs confirmed this suspicion.
we're having a baby
yessir.
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NIL rights -- Dad
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