Mountain Bikes, Bass Guitar, and other stuff I like

I must be on an 80s R&B kick. This Luther Vandross tune has been on repeat lately.  Luther wrote the bass part and that is Marcus Miller playing.  Marcus has such a distinct, clear sound and it's been great to explore more of Marcus' music lately. This is another essential slap and pop bass example.  Plenty of space around the notes.  This song has a lot of great breaks, which only add to the funk!

 This week's track is an 80s funk classic.  It was inspired by my daughter's recent viewing of Men in Black.  It's Patrice Rushen's extremely danceable hit "Forget Me Nots."   Yes, Will Smith remade it into Men in Black in the late 90s as you may recall. On this blog though, I'm all about that bass and Freddie Washington is one slick mister on this track. It's definitely a slap-and-pop tour de force with great usage of octaves on the F# and D notes.  It's hard to imagine this song with any other bassline and again, the bass does not overplay, only serving what the song needs. There are plenty of nice fills too with hammers and slides thrown in occasionally. When I play this on bass, I literally can't help but dance along.  What a groove! This is definitely a great track to woodshed if you're looking at starting your funk repertoire!  (A quick internet search will reveal bass tablatures)  Enjoy!

 I heard this song on a run today and realized what a great bass part it has.  That's Tina Weymouth from  Talking Heads' playing on "Born Under Punches."  Tina, in my opinion, is a consistently underrated bassist.  She really has such a minimalist style. This bassline does exactly what it needs to and nothing more, simple and effective.  It definitely gets bonus points for being in such a quirky time signature as well!  She also uses space and air between notes to provide extra, er, punch.   It's such a strange song frankly, with typical Talking Heads bizarre lyrics, seemingly random guitar licks and synth for that matter. Tina's part could've fallen through the cracks and her slap-and-pop style on the track helps the bass break through the mix a bit. This song is a great example of bass parts that just groove and are perfect in their simplicity.  Enjoy and thanks for reading!

5 Basic mountain bike skills every beginner should learn : Your mountain biking skills constantly develop and improve every time you get on the bike. Here are some areas that may require special attention, but will also transform your abilities...

The solar eclipse just happened and it has me feeling cosmic and appreciative of our wondrous universe. It makes me feel pretty small and realize that most of my concerns are really trivial. I was amazed at how the quality of light changed and how the crickets began to chirp.  Not to mention the crescent-shaped lights on the ground beneath the trees.  We had a colander out viewing crescents on the patio because we had no solar glasses.  Briefly, a cloud covered the sun and we looked up for a few seconds at the eclipse.  Then some neighbors let us borrow their glasses.  They are neighbors who for some reason we have never even spoken to, but people realize this is a rare event, so it makes us more human, more kind. This is an amazing time to be alive, with my daughter just turning 1 year old and now this truly inspiring event of nature. One can't help but feel gratitude and a sense of contentment. One of my favorite Carl Sagan quotes: “The surface of the Ea...

Last week's adventure was up in Dawson Forest, the site of the Georgia Nuclear Aircraft Laboratory. They have about 20 miles of trails up there that are singletrack and doubletrack.  Renee and I took our bikes and loaded up the trail map using MTB Project .  It was a really hot day and we went in the early afternoon, so it was scorching.   I will say that the place, given its history, has a weird vibe. They could've filmed an X-files episode here. Also, a woman was also abducted and murdered out there. Yikes! Renee decided to go on foot and leave the bike behind so I went ahead on recon on the Red trail. It was wide-open powerline riding for about a half-mile then Renee decided to turn around because it was too exposed.  The sun was beating down on us so we headed back to the parking lot and did the Orange trail, heading west.  It was a good sustained climb out and plenty of equestrian "evidence" was about.  Trail treasures?  Jungle-like conditions a...

I have finally ventured back out to Pine Log WMA after about 6 years away and getting horribly lost and dehydrated my last time out. It's funny what 6 years of biking will do for your confidence and skill development! Today was the 2nd official group ride for HPEDXC , the name I've given my work cycling club.  I like that the name has Ped(Pedal) and XC(Cross-country). We were originally going to Blanket's Creek but it was closed due to wet conditions. Tom showed up but had a flat tire after about 4 miles so he had to hike it out. I kept on and did 2 clockwise loops on Grassy Hollow Rd, which I dubbed the Circle of Doom route. Not sure why, just like the sound of it.  This is a great place to work on climbing and get some mileage in and is frankly a refreshing break from the local trail systems. It was a relatively cool start at 9:15 and immediately we were greeted with uphill climbs.  I decided to do all jeep-road on this ride and save the singletrack exploration for an...

Despite a nagging right knee injury since February, I have set 2 PRs this week that I am pretty excited about.  1st was a local running route where I placed 3rd overall on Strava.  I am determined to get the KOM for this segment, which is on a fairly rolly section of road. Link here; https://www.strava.com/activities/1024400394 One of my favorite local mountain biking trails is Van Michael at Blanket's Creek.  It is always tough and features a lot of good climbs. Van Michael is nearly always an anaerobic workout!.  Wednesday I rode the clockwise direction and set a PR of 18:56, which I believe was nearly a minute off of my previous time. Frankly, I thought my days of setting PRs were over since Kit got here and I haven't been able to train much over the past year. What training I have been able to get in was mostly Maffetone (MAF), which I believe has helped my overall cardio base fit. Link here:  https://www.strava.com/activities/1026005273 Regardless, I ...

I am proud to introduce my mountain bike training and fitness program! Update: Added My Wix site  for the training program What do you think of my flyer? Please feel free to reach out to me and let me know if you are interested in learning to mountain bike or improve your race times!  All skill levels welcome!

Yesterday, my daughter Kitai turned 6 months old. It's hard to believe! Her name is Japanese in origin and means fox. The fox is her motif animal I suppose and she has taken to it really well. She seems rather fiery and wiley I will say. Time is surely flying although some of that time seemed to pass by at a glacial pace.  It seems like just the other day we had her on the changing table and she was endlessly fascinated with the shiny wood paneling on the table. She also was rather enamored of our library chandelier. So much that we dubbed it her "boyfriend." I'll never forget seeing her for the first time and her little face scrunched up as she was laid on wife's chest right after being delivered. I think I said, "Oh wow, look at that." The midwives said I had a huge grin! Kit didn't cry right away, it took several minutes.  It may sound funny, but I do get the sense that this is not her first time around.  Her birth was like a runaway freight trai...

MAF test #1 at Boling Park 8/6/16 Humid and warm. Went over 145 several times and up to 147.  Average was 143, 144, 144 for each mile. 1-mile intervals were 8:54, 10:24, 11:34 I found it difficult to stay below 146 and was surprised how often my HR alert went off. Breakfast was larabar, half kindbar, coconut oil. MAF test #2 at Boling Park 11/19/16 14-week interval Factors: Living with my 3 month old precious infant daughter for the past 3 months! Poor sleep and 30 mph headwinds.Temps in 60s.   MCT oil and egg ham muffins for bfast HR strap would not wake up until 2nd mile so I took miles 2,3,4 for the test HR went up to 147 and 148 several times and it was difficult to keep it at 145 but I am not going to adjust my times due to the headwinds, which pretty much evens everything out or close enough. 1-mile intervals 8:18, 8:45,8:49,8:57 HR per lap 143, 146, 146, 146 Note, my HR strap didn’t work until after the 1st half-mile so I’m ...

This is a really clever idea. This app  Pact  pays you to workout. What's the catch? You pay if you miss a workout. How's that for  # fitnessmotivation   http://www.gym-pact.com/

To any of my endurance athlete friends, for fueling during your workout or race, have you tried any of the following, and if so, what did you think of them? Iskiate Endurance or 3Fuel ? If you haven't tried these, what alternatives to gels and energy bars have you tried? ‪#‎endurancetraining‬ ‪#‎paleo‬ ‪#‎primal‬

18.36 miles swam so far for 2016. That leaves about 81 miles and some change before December 31st. Can he do it? Stay tuned to find out. Next up: Georgia Games 3k swim! Won't you please consider donating to Heifer to show me some love. Even $5 would mean a lot! Thank you! https://give.everydayhero.com/us/fish-out-of-water-swimming-fundraiser#/ www.heifer.org

Had a great time at Fort Yargo triathlon! Awesome to have my fam at the finish an  Renee Lowe sherpa-ing for me and doing a sprint to the transition area! The lake was surprisingly warm for the swim and no wetsuits were allowed. I think I swam an extra 200 yards and the swim felt uphill! My bike leg was solid and felt good and was nice to have a mechanically viable bike versus my chain debacle from 2 years ago. Ended up with a flat-feeling run and didn't have much kick but I knew something was right because I felt pukey. Today was a solid result considering I'm still recovering from my 50k and I feel that my legs are slowly getting back to form.  XTERRA Southeast Athletes   ‪#‎ xterra‬   everydayhero  Thanks to GoneRiding.com  for a fun, well-organized event!

Preamble Decided to drink the kool-aid and signed up for my 1st 50k trail race last November.  I thought it would be a good way to spend the winter months rather than hibernating.   I was shooting for a March race date and the only ones that were relatively close to home were ones in Augusta, GA and near Birmingham, AL.  I opted for the Oak Mountain 50k near Birmingham because I had been mountain biking there before and it seemed like an challenging, grueling and beautiful place for a trail race.   I was not wrong on any of those accounts.  I wore my yellow Vivobarefoot TrailFreaks.  They were great throughout my training plan and through the race.  The lugs are just aggressive enough but the shoe has that "barely there" feeling.  This is my favorite trail running shoe.  Yes, it has high proprioception, but I feel that makes my feet stronger. (Quote of the race from other racers in regards to the shoes: " Those will break your feet. ") I ...

Major stoke for tomorrow's 50k at Oak Mountain! I feel pretty ready for this and have put in a lot of time and miles in training. Promises to be an adventure-filled day. So grateful that my parents and wife Renee Lowe (+the little one :)) Also, good luck to my fellow runners tomorrow at the Georgia Death Race and Mountain Goat Adventures race. I hope that the trail rises with you. #trailrunning "The best pace is a suicide pace and today looks like a good day to die." -- Steve Prefontaine oakmountain50k.com

Happy Pi Day! Please consider supporting my swimming fundraiser for Heifer International. I am heading toward 100 miles total in 2016. You can donate $5, 10,20 or if you're a math nerd, $3.14 on Pi Day! Thank you! @Heifer

I've created this page because I want to make a difference. I'm inspired by the work of Heifer International and wanted to support them by raising money.   I believe in supporting Heifer because I feel strongly about people being empowered.  Heifer International espouses self-sufficiency through education and sustainable animal husbandry and agricultural efforts throughout the world. Please help me help them by giving whatever you can using the 'Give Now' button. The more people that know about Heifer International, the greater their impact, so please also spread the word by sharing my page with your friends and family. Thank you in advance for your generosity, it means a lot! (Briefly about me:) Swimming is my biggest fitness-related challenge and something that does not come easy to me.  I am always amazed at how much technique, dedication and focus it take to be a good swimmer. Some days in the pool or lake are faster than others!  I am a cyclist and runner by...