Michael Henry

Spin Class is Boring When The Instructor Plays Lousy Music and Talks Too Much

It’s winter and that means I do little riding out of doors, and am relegated to the strange windowless back room of my suburban rec center, where I sit on a stationary bike with, oh, 54 other folks, and I pedal like a maniac, wearing old t-shirts with cut-off sleeves. It ain’t real riding butContinue reading “Spin Class is Boring When The Instructor Plays Lousy Music and Talks Too Much”

A New Word

Lostacious. That was the word in my dream, the dream I was having as I woke up this morning. I think it’s an adjective, and it describes the state or quality of being blissfully lost. Sometimes it’s used as an exclamation describing happiness at not knowing where one is. Dude, we’re lostacious. As a writerContinue reading “A New Word”

What’s Been Up Lately (On Two Feet, No Wheels)

I haven’t ridden in a while. Real life has rudely intruded. Though sometimes it’s good to let it, so you can get the itch back again. In the meantime, I have polished up some riding haiku. I’M NOT SCARED HAIKU (Written after riding the Matthew’s Winters + Hogback Trail and White Ranch, Golden CO) LightningContinue reading “What’s Been Up Lately (On Two Feet, No Wheels)”

What Work Is: What Labor Day, the Poet Laureate, Ballet, Mountain Biking, and the Philosopher Horace have in Common

Have I missed Labor Day? Where did you go, oh amazing national day off? Well, perhaps I needed to have already experienced Labor Day 2011 in order to begin contemplating the meaning of Labor Day, and the idea of labor, and how it relates to the work of writing, the work of our daily lives.Continue reading “What Work Is: What Labor Day, the Poet Laureate, Ballet, Mountain Biking, and the Philosopher Horace have in Common”

Three-Day Trip to Summit County

(Note: I’m on a three-day solo trip up to Summit County to check out some of the riding there, and to do lots of writing. I hope to get three rides in, depending on weather, and to camp. All by my lonesome.) It’s around 5 PM, and I’m sitting in a denuded campground along RouteContinue reading “Three-Day Trip to Summit County”

Raging River

Last year during a visit to the high country in Grand Lake, Colorado, I rode some really fun new trails created by the Grand Lake Metropolitan Recreation District, just a short jog from the western entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park. (On the way there, I saw a moose, just off the road. Such isContinue reading “Raging River”

Getting Lost

There’s the old adage that those who wander are not always lost, and while I certainly appreciate that sentiment, I’d push it a bit farther. I think we often like to get ourselves lost, so that we can then find ourselves again. It renews a sense of wonder and newness with all that is familiar.Continue reading “Getting Lost”

My First Bike Race

Note: Following is an imaginary transcript of a phone call I would have made during the Winter Park XC Super Loop Race on June 25—if I’d been feeling chatty. (Inspired by a Frank O’Hara poem.) Hello, this is Roberta from the Department of Rationalization—how may I help you? Hi, Roberta thanks for taking my call.Continue reading “My First Bike Race”