Where Water Buffalo Roam

La Sportiva Mountain Running Athlete Andrew Fast goes through some of his favorite core exercise to help build the base strength you’ll need to go fast and hard in the mountains, cycling or racing a triathlon. Even though Andrew is a mountain runner for La Sportiva, these are great workouts for any endurance athlete.

Today I choose life. Every morning when I wake up I can choose joy, happiness, negativity, pain... To feel the freedom that comes from being able to continue to make mistakes and choices - today I choose to feel life, not to deny my humanity but embrace it.      -Kevyn Aucoin After three days of bad weather at the base of Pico Duarte (the ultimate objective), it was time to retreat to sea level.  Piglet, the farm dog, was in rare form as river rat/raft guide; all good things come to an end. 

Resilience is all about being able to overcome the unexpected. Sustainability is about survival. The goal of resilience is to thrive.        - Jamais Cascio Zach and Extreme Hotel Cabarete have a farm on the north coastal side of the interior mountain range.  Aquaponics, bees, goats, chickens, star fruit, cacao from the tree, peppers, mint, and eggplant; these guys are driving around old Mercedes Turbo Diesels on veggie oil and living proof that, with creativity, anything is possible.

Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.       -Albert Einstein  There is a saying: “God is everywhere, but he lives in Costanza.”  With jungle peaks as far as the eye can see, and sitting smack dab in the middle of the Atlantic and Caribbean, it’s not a bad place to hang out

Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors where there were only walls.      -Joseph Campbell One of many waterfalls making their way to the ocean from the high peaks.  Something weird happens to my body when a full moon is up, I can’t sleep and have a lot of energy.  I left towards the mountains out of basecamp at 4am, in the dark, and explored all day.

Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds!       -Bob Marley Musk of the open road, you are Master Splinter. Simplicity, independence, and empowerment--as long as tired legs will carry I will thrutch. It’s all butterflies and butterscotch until shit goes wrong; that’s when you know you’re in it. Red jungle dirt has a healing quality.  My home base on the north coast was at my friend Zach’s Hotel Extreme, this is a road near their farm.

One way to get the most out of life is to look upon it as an adventure.       -William Feather No Pirates.  But I did find a Dutchman living off the grid.  He offered me imported Belgian beer, I stayed for a couple days. Exploring jungle trails in the Dominican Republic is unpredictable.  Some trails end up at a scenic beach--it feels like you just discovered it--some trails go to the door of a simple tin roof home; donkey out front, chickens, and skinny dogs. I suppose that’s what makes us feel alive and human; the unexpected.

“It isn't what you have or who you are or where you are or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about it.”  ―  Dale Carnegie I don’t normally sit on the beach to work a tan but if I did, Las Galeras is where I’d go.  Literally the end of the road, everything stops here, including time. Word has it, remote coves notched at the end of the north coasts Samana Peninsula provide refuge for drug smugglers on the Cocaine Highway; naturally I looked for a trail.  Jungle running to spy on pirates--I’d be foolish to resist such an urge.

Like a kid loves candy and fresh snow, new trails and culture, I love you oh so well.  I built TukTuk (my bicycle) up at an open air terminal, plenty of spectators and biting bugs.  Agriculture land.  I was the only gringo on the flight; a good sign for sure.  Turns out TSA lost the nut to my front wheel skewer.  Translation: the piece that prevents the front wheel from rolling off the bike was missing.  Dripping in sweat, determined, and applying my community college B- physics, I made a skewer with four zip ties and a bike lock key. “Don’t ride at night,” that’s the only consistent pre-trip advice I got from folks who’ve ridden in Dominican Republic.  I left the airport and headed to Moca.  A dusty town surrounded by agriculture on three sides and a mountain range on the North.   Mopeds are like mosquitoes, cars are in varying states of decay but rest assured horns are intact.  I ascended a, not the , ridge out of Moca just as the sun set.  Alpenglow on broad leaf palms and

“Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” ―  Antoine de Saint-Exupér This is the start of something good. Traveling through a new mountain range via human power is a process of refinement.  The less gear I need, the faster I can go; the faster I go the more I see and experience.

Good Morning Gordy The following is an excerpt from my thought diary while logging some miles with Gordy.  Through conversation and minimal research, I’ve determined Gordy started not only the Western States 100 mile running race, but also ultra distance trail running in the United States as we know it. Gordy starts: I’d fallen in with bad company.  We weren’t bad, really, just bored.  My friend John got caught stealing a candy bar and it just so happened that, at one time or another, we had also relocated a couple delineators.  John went on house arrest; eventually he got antsy and started giving names.  Local authorities came to my house, arrested me, and put me on probation.  Pretty soon after that my mom said: “Let’s move Gordy to the country”.  *** Gordy is tall, much taller than me, with big hands, big legs and long gray hair that blends with a big bushy grey beard.  Gordy was the first person in the United States, and likely the world, to take on the challenge of

"I completely underestimated our route,"  She started out.  "It took a couple days of climbing just to get to the next town, camping along the way.  Then the rain came--so miserable--riding up hill all day then crawling into wet gear.  We got worked by the mountains, but it was awesome.  I want to go back."  There was a lightness to her voice.  It was easy to tell the memories of camping under a bright moon, descending long hills with the sun, and the calmness of the mountains in the morning will stick with her for years to come. A few years ago I lent this friend a circa 1980's steel frame Team Fuji bicycle, shifters on the down tube, nice big lugs typical of that time--a school bus on two wheels compared to bikes of today.  She had fractured her knee and wanted to get fit without the pain of running.  And so it began--that indescribable passion for pedaling--as fast as legs will allow, racing friends, or exploring new terrain via human power.  Having somet

***                          San Diego at Sunrise I’m on a search for the perfect ride; a simplified and stripped down perspective--every day.  From the saddle of a bike, outside the breakers at dawn, or chasing alpenglow on a new trail; simple pleasures. "Simplify, simplify." A tape worm road through a range I've never ridden, Hank Williams shouting through headphones, off camber turns, goose bump arms; child-like smile. Running a trail, steep enough to require thought, technical enough to stay present; freedom, solitude, and independence--that is why we go. Perspective, inspiration, and a spanking--that is what we get.  I play outside because it’s fun, the faster I go the more fun I have. *** I’m fascinated by snoring.  Really, so impressive.  The most soft spoken petite Asian man, projecting with such confidence when he’s not awake. Social dynamics are weird, the body does whatever it damn well pleas