And so after it, I promise I’ll come back to this
Just carry water chop the wood and stack the bricks
The fact of it is everything you put inside the past will drift If I can capture then release that’s all I’ll ask of it
I’m wrapped within the path, even when it acts
as labyrinth
It’s never static even when you’re trapped in callousness
The ash is in the furnace, the kindlings the catalyst
still adamant it’s worth it, hit the saddle and I crack
the whip
Cause nothing is ever certain
Christopher’s field notes from each segment in this episode (January through April).January: A simple and straight forward month. Every day pretty much the same and always ending in the recovery boots. No travels, no need to manage logistics, just getting stuck in the work.
Right in the middle of this turning world, searching for the still point. Searching in between the shifting seasons, the fits and starts, wins and losses, routines and switching clocks, aisle seats and my siloed dreams, I try to find peace in the midst of the problems. Between the tunnel vision and the drifting finish lines, fidgeting with hope and fear, between the past I compare myself to and the future I hope will arrive, I finally see I can only find home right here.
Home - not only when the pictures are hung on the wall. But right in the midst of the turning world. It’s funny how often an ending can look just another beginning, and is still smack in the middle of it all. The world turns on, the chapters continue, and life happens, like actually really happens, when the heart is involved.
It’s quite fitting and maybe a bit ironic that I’m just now sharing a video about the off-season while I’m flying to the first World Cup of the year in Brazil. I racked up $350 of baggage fees on my way here, as I’ve got all the stuff I’ll carry with me through the next 5 months of travel. I guess that’s how it tends to go…
Christopher recounts the rollercoaster of emotions during Cape Epic, from the triumph of the prologue win to the devastating setback of stage 1. Despite challenges, they embraced vulnerability and perseverance, rallying to win four stages and ultimately clinch victory by a narrow margin.
At an Athens airport hotel, at the end of my 2023 season, I sat on some steps that led to the shore of the Mediterranean. Suddenly, I was on the other side of the season, running through the past 7 months in my mind -all the details of each training block along the way, the high moments and rough ones, the frustrations, the travel, and the cumulative effort into the whole thing.But right now, I don’t want to write about the details of the whole thing.