tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5100280177038410442024-03-13T09:14:44.081-04:00Rob Kristoff WritingCatalog copywriter, freelance author, photographer, and mountain bike monk.RKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05614666707625910383noreply@blogger.comBlogger278125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-510028017703841044.post-64275000820203923422024-03-13T08:55:00.003-04:002024-03-13T09:14:12.030-04:00Photos March 2024 Just one of many semi-slushy bottom-bracket destroying rides this winter...Another night on the rail trail. One of those moments you just HAVE to stop and press the button.New Look pedals and a tree stump older than every reader of this blog combined.Taken at the end of our street. Dramatic cloud edges.My Grandfather Mars. Bike photo with duck while hiding from a rainy day under Rt. 95RKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05614666707625910383noreply@blogger.com0Boston, MA, USA42.3600825 -71.0588801-14.889248961605162 148.31611990000005 90 69.566119899999975tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-510028017703841044.post-65285931630290245802024-02-26T09:08:00.002-05:002024-03-13T08:45:07.618-04:00...As a bee Is there any point to having a blog anymore? I'm not sure.I certainly have a couple of blogs I read on a regular basis. In fact, I much prefer them to you tube videos and... what else is there? Tik Toks? Anyway, maybe that helps you understand my ambivalence about writing here. And that's not even mentioning the busyness of life. A busyness I create for myself? Yes, probably. RKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05614666707625910383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-510028017703841044.post-85703805327416193662023-12-06T14:24:00.000-05:002023-12-06T14:24:48.568-05:00Hunched Shoulders"...he whose intense thinking thus makes him a Prometheus; a vulture feeds upon that heart forever; the vulture the very creature he creates." -Herman Melville, Moby Dick. I'm no expert, but I think I probably have horrible posture. For example, it has always been a struggle to relax my shoulders as I ride a bike. I first noticed at 17 that my defaultRKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05614666707625910383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-510028017703841044.post-8857709021927231942023-11-08T09:44:00.000-05:002023-11-08T09:44:10.131-05:00Evolution or Devolution: Covid, E-Bikes, and the Outdoors When 2020 happened, and people weren't allowed to do anything that put them in close proximity to one another, it happened to coincide with Spring and Summer, and this was good. People seemed to rediscover the outdoors, and cycling benefitted from this, too. Outdoors was the perfect place to be together- but with plenty of breathing room (pun intended) to keep the requisite 6 RKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05614666707625910383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-510028017703841044.post-64034235952086104292023-08-28T15:15:00.001-04:002023-08-28T15:15:22.934-04:00Various recent(ish) photos!My bike next to my most common ride around Coy Pond.New chunk of rail trail in Danvers heading toward Middleton.Bee on Purple Loosestrife.Button Bush, or so I'm told.Well, I guess we can see why THIS tree fell down...Rainy day.Along the BF Rail Trail in Concord.Race bike at rest (next to the barn).See? It's not all bikes. Here's the moon in the trees......and here's the trees in the fog...This isRKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05614666707625910383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-510028017703841044.post-10453392204405156762023-02-24T14:24:00.012-05:002023-02-27T12:00:30.776-05:00No, Virginia, there isn't a Poop FairyDeer fight pumpkins, not your trash.In my last post, I mentioned how depressing it is seeing trash along trails in the woods near here.
Today, I'd like to address a particular kind of trash: those little plastic dog poop bags. Go for a walk or ride in any public trails, and you're absolutely guaranteed to see them. Not hundreds; but not just one or two, either.
The question is: where do they RKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05614666707625910383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-510028017703841044.post-58137949288288633192023-02-09T08:22:00.001-05:002023-02-09T08:22:19.491-05:00Hello, again, HelloNo time right this moment for a deeply thought-out post, but I wanted to get a few words on here and not just photos all the time.
I won't kid you. Ever since 2013 when Kathy got her BC diagnosis right around Valentine's Day, February has always been a bit of a trigger for me and the fact that it's dreary mid-winter doesn't really help much. Not a major stress, exactly, but something lurking inRKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05614666707625910383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-510028017703841044.post-32000822504952228182023-01-18T10:08:00.005-05:002023-02-09T08:03:20.965-05:002023 photosI can't say they paved paradise and put up a parking lot, but there used to be some beloved businesses in the buildings they've knocked down here. Apparently they're planning to put in retail and/or apartment buildings here?The upside down.Just seemed like a texture I couldn't pass up. Not sure what they're doing in the middle of the woods, though.My frozen breath and a flash photo on a day that RKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05614666707625910383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-510028017703841044.post-11496887880612739242022-12-05T09:31:00.004-05:002023-03-02T10:43:37.649-05:00Photos from November and early December 2022 RKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05614666707625910383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-510028017703841044.post-80190776719326616932022-10-24T10:37:00.004-04:002022-10-24T10:42:49.739-04:00Recent Photos October 2022Graffiti in the woods.Ah, the excitement of the fair...Field Pond triple sun.At first I wondered why so many trees had fallen near this creek. Then I saw this. Just after this, Kansas started their soundcheck!Cute, but an odd way for the fair to announce the news, isn't it? Fair-iss-wheelSwamp.Playing with depth of field. RKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05614666707625910383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-510028017703841044.post-42340519342261156452022-10-13T08:47:00.041-04:002023-03-02T10:56:14.760-05:00Fisher Rig Deep Dive: TLDR! I was at the Beverly Gran Prix of Cyclocross last month, and ran into Steven Hyde. You might remember his name. He was national champion a couple times. Anyway, after I said hello, he complimented my bike and mentioned he had a Gary Fisher from the same year that he loved. And I wanted to tell him all about why it IS such a nice bike. But the race was about to RKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05614666707625910383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-510028017703841044.post-91326452418029232362022-08-03T14:25:00.002-04:002022-08-03T14:25:40.244-04:00July 2022 Photos RKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05614666707625910383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-510028017703841044.post-76462565166377354552022-07-05T09:23:00.007-04:002022-07-05T09:29:43.713-04:00Photos from June 2022Towle trails near ActonBetween Harold Parker State Park and Boxford State Forest.Pavilion Beach in Gloucester, MA.One of my rare commutes to work. Graffiti in the tunnel under Rt. 95.Sunset at Lynch Park on the 4th of July (So technically, this shouldn't count...)Morning leaf before church.After the ride at Bradley Palmer State Park.Sky branches over Chebacco Lake.Fun with depth-of-field near RKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05614666707625910383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-510028017703841044.post-8211491280521118662022-06-21T11:11:00.000-04:002022-06-21T11:11:21.422-04:00Weighty Matters Hello, my name is Rob, and I am an addict. Isn't that what they say at AA and those sorts of things? The difference is, I'm addicted to food. Food for comfort. Food for rewards. Food as a motivation to do and a reward for having done exercise. But I'm getting way ahead of myself here. I've never thought of myself as an obese person. I've also RKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05614666707625910383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-510028017703841044.post-87234382703419328782022-01-18T09:16:00.001-05:002022-02-07T14:43:13.698-05:00Calling London from the faraway townsAlso, I have antlers. NBD.Barn in Concord. Love the nail rust.Melville. Rivendell. Metal desk toys.Pretty much my entire life in one image. So, I recently wrote a little blog post for Steve Makin and Paul Rance at Grass Up the Middle about taking a big stupid ride on my 50th birthday. I won't bother you here with my navel-gazing and existential angst, but they were kind enough to list this RKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05614666707625910383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-510028017703841044.post-44028877321393169382021-10-04T10:57:00.289-04:002021-11-12T11:10:07.469-05:00"On Evangelism, Evangelicalism, Guilt, and Gospel" “Do not judge, so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged... Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces...In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the RKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05614666707625910383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-510028017703841044.post-62107488532954309722021-07-12T10:06:00.011-04:002022-10-24T10:30:16.403-04:00Team SlurpeeI'm a day late and a dollar short, as they say, but in what is possibly my best defense, I was in fact out on a ride for a good chunk of yesterday afternoon, and running around preparing for an hour before that. And afterwards, I was in no shape for writing! :)Between my BMX trick (freestyle) childhood and teen years, and the mountain biker you know now, I was in fact a bike shop rat and a prettyRKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05614666707625910383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-510028017703841044.post-3515956334384164202021-07-07T11:43:00.011-04:002021-07-07T12:34:00.861-04:00Why, hello there! Just some quick updates here. The super Google robot notification system (or SuGooRoNoSys) that lets you know when posts are published is going away sometime in July (so, any day now, really). Goodbye, brave droid. You've served us well. What I'm trying to say is that it is very likely this is the last email notification you'll be getting from this blog. But rest assured, RKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05614666707625910383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-510028017703841044.post-66105209026912058702021-03-22T09:44:00.002-04:002021-03-22T09:44:34.776-04:00Housekeeping Do people even read blogs anymore? Regardless, some housekeeping to clarify here. If you were reading along with the Psalm 23 series, you may be wondering: "Hey, whatever happened to that Psalm 23 series of sermons?" And the answer is two things. One you know, one you don't. The first: Coronavirus. For at least 6 months, probably more---maybe still---we weren't able to go RKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05614666707625910383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-510028017703841044.post-43865419775591754462020-07-22T11:31:00.002-04:002023-09-07T10:15:33.013-04:00Apocalypse Now #2. (July 2020)"..so this is not a sorry tune, but heaven help me."-The Choir, "To Bid Farewell" In a way, 2020 is the ultimate test of your mental disposition. Is the glass half full or half empty? Or broken? Blame whoever you want, the events hitting us right now have been in the works for a long time. Whether you're talking about the globalization that helped a virusRKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05614666707625910383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-510028017703841044.post-60787248951231557632020-06-08T09:29:00.002-04:002020-06-24T09:42:15.433-04:00About a Bike"Imagine all our years together like a blackbird that won't sing. Imagine: throwing it to the wind—but it falls from broken wings..."-77's, "Don't This Way"For years, I've been torn between appreciating vintage mountain bikes and keeping up with new technology. (I got my first MTB in 1993 and had ridden others' bikes while working in a bike shop around 87-88)A few years ago, I got my hands RKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05614666707625910383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-510028017703841044.post-63285874469494251202020-03-25T10:53:00.001-04:002020-03-25T10:53:37.980-04:00Apocalypse Now #1We're all tired of hearing news about the COVID19, but here's a different sort of article that I think you'll really enjoy, about what scientifically happens when we wash our hands (and use sanitizer). One of my co-workers turned me on to it.
Also, this from another co-worker: Mother Nature is mad at us, so she's making us go to our rooms!
RKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05614666707625910383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-510028017703841044.post-56252872079498281842020-03-05T08:50:00.002-05:002023-09-07T10:14:13.559-04:00It's the End of the World as We Know It... ( Photos March 2020)I've started including a link to this blog with all the location photos I share with Google. So, as promised, here's some more pics...
RKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05614666707625910383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-510028017703841044.post-30320236369025707262020-02-17T08:52:00.002-05:002020-06-24T09:43:52.810-04:00Psalm 23, part five: Restore My Soul
Restore My Soul:
In 2008, retired Admiral Mike McConnell, told this story during a speech at
Johns Hopkins University: It was a foggy night at sea during the second world war. The captain of a Navy ship was walking around on deck after dinner, when he was notified that the crew on the bridge had spotted an unexpected light in the distance. Immediately he askedRKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05614666707625910383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-510028017703841044.post-68057829151889028412020-01-22T08:16:00.004-05:002020-07-02T12:54:16.994-04:00Psalm 23, part four: Beside Still Waters
Have you ever been really thirsty? Enough so that you’d drink almost anything you could find? It might be a little hard to picture here in the cold winter, but if you remember summer heat, it’s a little easier to picture those times when your body is just screaming out for some moisture. I’m not sure why this is, but let’s just admit that we all picture that image of a man in threadbare clothingRKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05614666707625910383noreply@blogger.com0