DustBowl's journal

Where are you and where are you going?
avalok
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Re: DustBowl's journal

Post by avalok »

Agreed: JustinGuitar is great! He has come a long way from sitting cross-legged in his lounge, but his new beginner's course is just as good imo.

Also really like you outlook on the issues you've been having with the bike, all that knowledge gained will continue to come in useful.

Western Red Cedar
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Re: DustBowl's journal

Post by Western Red Cedar »

dustBowl wrote:
Sat May 06, 2023 11:03 pm
Given how far off two hours is from the eight+ hour sessions required for the trip I want to do, it's looking increasingly unlikely that bikepacking will be a viable way to get down the coast. Still, I've gotten a lot out of this process. I'm reminded of what Jacob said about designing ERE with positive failure modes in mind. Even if I'm not able to do the my trip, the failure mode of 'prep to bikepack the coast' looks like: learn how to set up a bike properly / learn more about human biomechanics / get in better shape / explore more of Seattle via bike. Still pretty good!
If you get to a point where the disc isn't bothering you too much, there are also lots of great options for shorter bike trips near you. The Olympic Peninsula, Whidbey Island, the San Juan Islands, and Vancouver Island all have some amazing routes with good camping and resupply options.

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grundomatic
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Re: DustBowl's journal

Post by grundomatic »

I remember the day a coworker showed me a picture of a bike from a Paris-Roubaix winner--pretty sure it was Tom Boonen. The handlebars were rolled back so that rather than being parallel to the ground, the bar and levers were like at a 10-15 degree angle. I rolled my bars back like that and my world was changed forever.

avalok
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Re: DustBowl's journal

Post by avalok »

@grundomatic did you find the relaxed position created much extra effort when riding? Whenever trying this, I found it frustrating how much more wind resistance I experienced, and quickly reverted to more of a racing position. I generally ride in a more relaxed manner than I used to, so maybe I'd benefit from a relaxed position.
Last edited by avalok on Mon May 08, 2023 8:44 am, edited 1 time in total.

mathiverse
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Re: DustBowl's journal

Post by mathiverse »

grundomatic wrote:
Sun May 07, 2023 10:26 pm
The handlebars were rolled back so that rather than being parallel to the ground, the bar and levers were like at a 10-15 degree angle. I rolled my bars back like that and my world was changed forever.
Any chance you can post a link to a picture of this? I'm interested in what you mean.

theanimal
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Re: DustBowl's journal

Post by theanimal »

mathiverse wrote:
Mon May 08, 2023 8:42 am
Any chance you can post a link to a picture of this? I'm interested in what you mean.
Notice the lower handlebars are more vertical and not parallel to the ground. There are more pictures if you search "tom boonen paris roubaix bike".

NewBlood
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Re: DustBowl's journal

Post by NewBlood »

You might want to consider adding inline brake levers. These will allow for a much more relaxed biking position when you need it while still being able to brake safely. You'll get increased wind resistance, but switching back and forth might let you ride a bit longer.

Also make sure you keep your shoulders down. I was having some neck pain when I switched from a hybrid to a road bike and eventually realized I tended to keep my shoulders up.

I'm not a good biker, so this might all be obvious...

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grundomatic
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Re: DustBowl's journal

Post by grundomatic »

For me it was about being more comfortable while riding on the hoods, for go fast mode one can always go to the drops to be more aero, like the picture @theanimal linked.

First link shows how the levers are positioned on the bar, the second picture, while not perfect, kind of shows how the bar+lever combo angles up a bit, rather than being totally flat.
http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/photos/2 ... s/IMG_0093
http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/photos/2 ... e/IMG_9908

jacob
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Re: DustBowl's journal

Post by jacob »

Of course people are free to find whatever fit they like, but usually when people start tilting their handlebars upwards, it's because the stem is too short or the frame is too large.

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grundomatic
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Re: DustBowl's journal

Post by grundomatic »

It was another variable to be tweaked in the endless quest for fit optimization, one that up until then I hadn't considered.

Gilberto de Piento
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Re: DustBowl's journal

Post by Gilberto de Piento »

I went back to the post where you described the problem where a herniated disc causes pain when you lean forward at the hips. I also read that you have a gravel bike. A gravel bike has the body position of a road bike but with wider off-road tires. It can be a fairly hunched over position. Have you tried riding a different bike with a less hunched position?

You would sit more upright on some mountain bikes, commuter bikes, and especially comfort and recumbent bikes. You would probably end up moving more slowly because these bikes are less efficient but it might be a worthwhile trade off if you can stay on the bike long enough to make the trip work out.

dustBowl
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Re: DustBowl's journal

Post by dustBowl »

avalok wrote:
Sun May 07, 2023 5:01 am
Agreed: JustinGuitar is great! He has come a long way from sitting cross-legged in his lounge, but his new beginner's course is just as good imo.
I always enjoy when I click on a lesson video and it ends up being one of those old low-production value ones where he's just sitting in his living room.

Western Red Cedar wrote:
Sun May 07, 2023 12:34 pm
If you get to a point where the disc isn't bothering you too much, there are also lots of great options for shorter bike trips near you. The Olympic Peninsula, Whidbey Island, the San Juan Islands, and Vancouver Island all have some amazing routes with good camping and resupply options.
You know, I was just looking at hikes on Whidbey island. Looks like it's less than four hours to get there via bike, which I'm pretty sure would be doable if I split the ride up with some breaks to walk around / change positions. Good idea!

grundomatic wrote:
Sun May 07, 2023 10:26 pm
I rolled my bars back like that and my world was changed forever.
What differences did you notice after you made this change?

Gilberto de Piento wrote:
Tue May 09, 2023 2:50 pm
I went back to the post where you described the problem where a herniated disc causes pain when you lean forward at the hips. I also read that you have a gravel bike. A gravel bike has the body position of a road bike but with wider off-road tires. It can be a fairly hunched over position. Have you tried riding a different bike with a less hunched position?

You would sit more upright on some mountain bikes, commuter bikes, and especially comfort and recumbent bikes. You would probably end up moving more slowly because these bikes are less efficient but it might be a worthwhile trade off if you can stay on the bike long enough to make the trip work out.
The bike I've been using for the last year is actually a commuter-style bike that puts you in a very upright position. Unexpectedly, my back likes the forward-leaning position of the gravel bike better, with the extremely important caveat being that I have to maintain a neutral spinal posture at all times. No getting lazy and letting the lumbar spine hunch when I get tired. All the flexion has to come at the hips, and even so my back starts to hurt after maybe an hour.

My working theory is that the gravel bike position works better because it distributes more weight through my hands, which reduces the overall compressive force on the spine compared to sitting vertically.

I would definitely be interested in checking out a recumbent at some point though.

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grundomatic
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Re: DustBowl's journal

Post by grundomatic »

There were multiple benefits for me. It changed the hood position from feeling like I was falling forward to just merely supporting myself upright. One of my bikes had a top tube that was too long for me, like @Jacob said, but bringing the spot where my hands rested just a little closer by rotation of the bars was way better for bike handling than when I tried a shorter stem. That made the bike “twitchy”, and there was no way I was going to put a more upright stem on it and ruin the aesthetics of my super cool race bike (ah…vanity and youth). Also, it gave me more positions for my hands than when the hoods are more on the front or further down the curve of the bar. So instead of the options being on the hoods or up top, I could be on the hoods, a little bit back from there, a little more back, a little more back, or up top. So even when I got a different bike with a shorter top tube (but shorter seat tube, too…I won’t even start with the fit frustrations I’ve had), I still set my levers and handlebars the same boom-boom-Boonen way.

Recumbents can be fun to ride, and the different position can make you feel like a biking noob again as it ends up working different muscle groups.

dustBowl
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Re: DustBowl's journal

Post by dustBowl »

May retrospective
I'm in kind of an in-between period right now. I've been off of work for about six months, and I find myself feeling... aimless. Threads of ennui start to creep in around the edges. But what I don't want to do is run away from those feelings into the arms of some job that I know I'll hate in six months. Instead, I'm going to try to sit with them, accept them as a natural part of the process, and keep thinking about how to design a life that's a good fit for me. I'm reminded of this line from the article @Axel shared a while back entitled Quit Your Job:
Wolf Tivy wrote:You have to let your life go fallow sometimes, like a crop rotation giving the land time to bring forth new fertility.
...

And anyway, my day-to-day life is actually real pleasant. I've been playing a lot of guitar. I'm getting back to that level of beginner-moving-towards-intermediate level where it starts to get fun because I can actually play songs I like all the way through at full tempo. There have been days where I happily spent half the day just playing.

My current area of focus is on training my strumming hand to keep the rhythm going without any direction from my conscious mind. Once I do that, I'll be able to sing and play at the same time. Currently, if I try to sing and play, I start automatically start playing the rhythm of whatever I'm singing, which is kind of funny when I realize I'm doing it but also annoying.

...

I participated in the first meeting of the Plotkin MMG this month. Not much to report on that front for now, since we just read the introduction and the first chapter where Plotkin lays out a bunch of his models. As I start experimenting with some of his practices, I'll report back on my experiences here.

...

My dad came to visit me in mid-May we did two day hikes out east of Seattle - Rattlesnake ledge and Mt. Si.

Looking up at Rattlesnake ledge:
Image

And then then the inverse, up on the ledge looking down:
Image

And then on Mt. Si, a shot from mid-hike, to give you a sense of what the foliage was like:
Image

A shot from the top of Mt. Si. The photo doesn't really do it justice - the view of Ranier was awesome in person
Image

OutOfTheBlue
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Re: DustBowl's journal

Post by OutOfTheBlue »

Beautiful place. I'd like to be there and take in the forest smells. Ranier is the snowy summit seen in the last photo?

I like your take on staying with the feeling and trusting the process, letting insight grow and manifest itself naturally. Way to go!

I had missed the part where you actually describe Somatic Descent in your journal. Based on that and what you've shared in the group, planning to give it a go soon!

dustBowl
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Re: DustBowl's journal

Post by dustBowl »

Yes, Rainier is the snowy peak in the last picture! I didn't realize how big it was until I looked at whether it would be feasible for me and my dad to do - at 14,000 ft it definitely would have been beyond our capabilities. Plus, all the roads leading to it stay snowed in until mid-summer, so you can't even get to it right now.

I'll be interested to hear about your experiences with Somatic Descent. Even after a few months of daily work with the practices, I still feel like I'm barely scratching the surface.

dustBowl
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Re: DustBowl's journal

Post by dustBowl »

July 2023 Retro
I don't have much content for this update. To be honest, most of my mental bandwidth recently has been going towards emotional / relational work that I don't really feel comfortable talking about on a public forum. It's good stuff, just, you know, it feels private.

Also, I'm in the middle of two back-to-back moves (moving myself and then helping my mom move out of her big-ass house) so my brain is kind of mush after a few weeks of continuously dealing with moving logistics.

So I'll aim to get back to to posting more frequently once 1) I'm done with moving craziness and 2) I have more ERE-relevant / non-private stuff to post.

ertyu
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Re: DustBowl's journal

Post by ertyu »

How's somatic meditation? Did you end up sticking with it? Results, discoveries, thoughts?

dustBowl
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Re: DustBowl's journal

Post by dustBowl »

ertyu wrote:
Wed Oct 18, 2023 9:07 pm
How's somatic meditation? Did you end up sticking with it? Results, discoveries, thoughts?
Yes, I still do it daily. My practice has been uneven over the last few months though because I've done multiple moves, have been helping my family with stuff, and have been traveling a lot.

My high-level opinion on it is that while I don't think it's The One True Practice to Rule them All, it can bring a lot of value depending on a person's needs. I use as part of my daily routine in conjunction with a couple of other practices. I don't feel like it's had a huge impact on my life but I do think it helps keep me grounded. Historically I've been prone to getting locked into a hyper-cognitive spiral when I get stressed, which doesn't actually solve anything and just kind of ends up with me brain-looping off into madness. Somatic meditation helps me not to do that.

Generally speaking I think a somatic meditation practice will be the most useful for people who tend towards the hyper-analytical OR those who feel disconnected from their body for whatever reason. In the modern world, that's probably a lot of us. It's very easy to spend all day on a computer at work, then watch TV all evening, and repeat. Do that for a while and you end up feeling like a brain in a meat suit. A practice like somatic meditation can help you feel less like a brain in a meat suit and more like an embodied being, which is much healthier.

I also think it's worth exploring for anyone who wants to do serious trauma work. Here I'm pulling from The Body Keeps the Score among other sources.

...

Additional context that will help explain how I apply somatic meditation: I use a mental model of different levels that a given practice might target. That looks like the following:
  • Cognitive: targeted by journaling, CBT, other therapy modalities, certain types of thought-focused meditation, ???
  • Emotional: targeted by other kinds of therapy, emotion-focused meditation, ???
  • Somatic: targeted by somatic meditation, massage and bodywork, exercise, dance, ???
Whether this model is accurate, I don't know. It's just something that coalesced in my brain after reading a bunch of different books on self-help, meditation, therapy, and trauma. There's also a lot of blurring between the levels. E.g. anxiety is experienced not only on the emotional level but on the physical level as chest tightness, increased heart rate, and so on.

Anyway, that's kind of a digression, the point is that I use somatic meditation to target the lowest level, and I use other practices to target the cognitive and emotional levels.

...

I will note that there's a lot of territory I haven't explored within somatic descent. There's a progression to the practices - the earlier ones are body-scan type exercises, while the later practices come much closer to the stuff in Focusing. In those later practices, you're doing something that looks to me like using the body as a conduit to get in touch with the subconscious. Asking questions, trying to get information out of the 'depths', dealing with Jung-style images, etc. I haven't delved into those in any kind of serious way. My work has been confined to the earlier practices, which are about developing a better sense of proprioception and getting your [ego / thinking mind / narrative mind] to let go a little.

I bring this point up because someone who's gone into the deeper stuff might have a different experience.

calamityjane
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Re: DustBowl's journal

Post by calamityjane »

That mental model is really useful! I tend to address the somatic components through yoga and hiking, but have always resisted them in seated meditative practice for some reason. For example, I really struggle with body scan.

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