Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Dixie and Lent

According to the first definition of hooptedoodle listed above, today'€™s entry is the hooptedoodleiest yet.  Warning: Bad literary analogies ahead.



My brother and I just returned from two days of riding singletrack in Utah's Dixie.  It'€™s fashionable for bloggers to list the trails we rode so here they are:  Stucki Springs/Bearclaw Poppy loop, Hurricane Rim/Gould’s/JEM trail loop, and Gooseberry Mesa.  I call them the Dixie Trinity: The Father (Poppy), The JEM and The Holy Goose.  The JEM trail is a 21 mile loop.  19 of those miles are singletrack; they're sweet salvation.   



Now for another bad literary analogy.



Riding all that singletrack felt like I was partying at Mardi Gras.  Perhaps if I'd ever been to New Orleans I would know better than to say something that stupid.  But I haven't been there and so I'm saying it.  But it begs the question, if that was my Mardi Gras, then Wednesday is the first day of Lent.  From what should I abstain? 



I first thought I should give up sugary snacks, for which I am a sucker.  I don'€™t buy them, but it seems like there's always some donuts, cupcakes or other refined sugary treat hanging around the office.  I'€™m weak and I can'€™t resist. 



But giving up donuts and pastries would be superficial because they mean nothing to me.   I look at the big picture when choosing my food.  A single food or meal doesn'€™t make or break a healthful diet. Almost any food, including the occasional donut or cupcake, can fit into a healthful diet, especially for a bicycle commuter.  Besides, I'€™m not Catholic so there's no guilt if I slip up, and Mags made two pies last night that I have to finish before they go bad.  The point is to forego something of importance, so giving up pastries won'€™t cut it. 



So help me out.  What should I give up for Lent?  What are you giving up?  Maybe you're giving service instead?  I open to all ideas. 



7 comments:

  1. If you really want to give up something you enjoy, try not riding a bike for 40 days.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I can’t give up riding a bike. That would be like asking a monk to abstain from prayer during lent, or asking you to give up on your dissertation. The point is to give up something frivolous, indulgent or sinful. Sometimes you may feel your dissertation is all of those things, but I don’t feel that way about bikes. Riding bikes is one of the best things I do for myself. Besides, the race season is starting soon.
    But speaking of bikes, how do you like your X-Cal?

    ReplyDelete
  3. My wikipedia understanding of Lent was that your sacrifice only had to be something you enjoy. Yes, typically people give up something that they feel is frivolous, indulgent or sinful, but I can also see value in sacrifice of something that isn't any of those things.
    I love my X-Cal. It's so much fun, even in the small hills of Illinois.

    ReplyDelete
  4. OK, I see your point, but shouldn’t I be giving up something in lieu of something better? How would I get around if I didn’t ride my bike? Drive a car? To me that would be like saying “This year for Lent I’m going to give up porn and go straight to hookers.” Or maybe you think I should give up riding for fun, and only ride when I need to get somewhere. But that’s essentially what I’ve been doing all winter. Last weekend was my first recreational ride of the year. I want my Lenten fast to be something meaningful to me, and right now the front runner is sugary snacks, mostly because Mags says so.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Sugary Snacks?? Way to easy...at least by themselves. So I think you should give up sugary snacks and commit to making Mags dinner 4 times a week. Oh yeah, you also should give up porn and hookers.

    ReplyDelete
  6. To further your porn versus hooker analogy, I'd say yes, maybe sleeping with hookers is what enables you to view porn in a different light. That doesn't mean your opinion of hookers would change (though that too could be a valueable insight gleaned from the experience).
    I don't know if giving up biking for Lent would ultimately be insightful. It very well may yield nothing useful.
    I see my suggestion to give up biking as similar to what I understand your reasons for doing your lemonade diet. You were clearly suspicious of what the diet would do for you, but you chose to do it anyway because you felt it would teach you how to master your self (though my interpretation of your motivations might be way off --I don't know).
    To me, Lent seems like it could function similarly; a sort-of Buddhist approach for a Mormon to practice Catholicism.

    ReplyDelete
  7. At least if you gave up riding, I could beat you :)

    ReplyDelete