An Urban Boychick Takes on the Outdoors

I've recently started working at a location in Rockville, MD. It's an interesting job but the commute can be a challenge. So, I've joined a gym up there and have been easing the commute by working out until the traffic lightens one or two times per week. I've been experimenting with spinning classes as a path to fulfill my goal of becoming a stronger cyclist. I like spinning. It doesn't require coordination or much ability to stay with group movements (it's no zumba). Also, since you have control of the resistance you can tailor the difficulty of the workout as needed while still staying in synch with the class.  So far I've taken four classes.Three of the four were great. The fourth was OK except that the instructor kept handing things over to one of the participants, who is apparently the local top spinning dog and subs as the instructor for some classes. This guy's goal was clearly to demonstrate how superior he was. He called out cadences and diffi...

A New Year's Day kayaking trip is something of a tradition for Chesapeake Paddlers Association folks. There's just something wonderfully audacious about being out on the water on the inevitably cold morning of January 1st when the world is for the most part still in bed fuzzily recovering from New Year's revels. Of course, it is a taste which is less than universally shared: Ralph put a call for paddlers to launch from Carr's Wharf and only three people showed up - including Ralph. As it happens, it was something of a CPA leadership paddle, since the three participants were the organization's Coordinator, the "King" of the Pirates of the North weekly paddling group, and a Steering Committee member (that would be me). OK, maybe the New Year's Day paddle is a tradition only for crazy diehards. Ralph and Bob Be that as it may, the three of us met at the wharf at 9 AM. Carr's Wharf appears to be an old ferry landing, too decrepit now...