Monday, July 02, 2007

Right Outside Your Door

I have had a lot of interaction in my life with people who regularly do extraordinary things, especially when it comes to athletic endeavours. Aron's 100 mile mountain runs and winter mountain climbs, Timmy O'Neill spending weeks upon weeks trying to conquer big wall climbs in inhospitable places, Elliot Larson competing in a 40 mile all-night-time race across one of the most rugged mountain ranges in the country, my skier buddies launching 50 foot cliffs... upside-down; the list just seems to go on and on.
Well recently something clicked when I witnessed an extraordinary feat firsthand. You may remember my story in Maui about my friend Timmy's brother Sean, pictured above. In addition to being a persistent and talented rock-climber, mountain road-scaler, and all-around adventurer, Sean is also paraplegic. He had started with his wheelchair wheels in the ocean and endeavoured to scale all 10,000' and 40 miles of road up the Hawaiian volcano Haleakala under his own power. I flew to Maui early one morning in April with dreams of sitting on the beach with a Mai Tai, the sounds of the steel guitar serenading me to an afternoon nap, maybe even a nostalgic drive on the road to Hana...
Well, within literally a few minutes of stepping onto the tarmac, I was sitting in a rental car on the side of the road watching someone I had just met that day slowly wheeling himself through traffic at 6:45 in the morning. Of course, I was spending some quality time with Timmy as well (as he force-fed me triscuits and cream cheese), but there was still that anticipatory tension of desiring to 'vacation' while on Maui. As it turns out, 20 hours later I was doing the same thing, and a few hours after that I was on a plane bound for the Big Island.
But I wouldn't have had it any other way.
There were, of course, some personal kicks- the nighttime sky in the middle of the Pacific from an 8,000' vantage affords the best stargazing on the planet (literally and scientifically speaking), watching the sunrise from the top of a 10,000' volcano was pretty sweet- but what I truly took home was the realization that -although extraordinary- what Sean was doing was waiting for me right outside my door.
In other words: I was inspired.
This past Saturday morning I went for a bike ride and was feeling great, so I figured I'd shoot for a solid 30 miles. As the day went on I realized that there was no good reason why I couldn't push myself a little more- no better time than the present. The temperature was in the crisp mid-70's range with low humidity, the sun was shining and my pedals were practically turning themselves, so I went a little further south than I had planned, cruised through Chagrin Falls, and upped my psychological goal to 40 miles... grabbed a snack and some water, rode the length of County Line Road and then I took a left- away from my home- down Hobart Road. This cycle of perpetual extension continued on through three counties and 10 townships. At the end of the day I had ridden 60 miles and felt great. It felt like a 100 miles and 10 miles at the same time: Physically challenging yet natural. Next step: 100 miles. I want to ride to Pennsylvania and back. It will be my pilgrimmage to recovery and to Sean... because of all the examples that my friends- and even myself- had set before and all the daily inspirations that I let slip through the cracks, I didn't recognize it until that extraordinary day and extraordinary feat that Sean performed.
So thanks Sean, I'm on my way...

5 Comments:

At 7:43 PM, Blogger all cars said...

Yes. There's no reason Ohio can't be exotic as well.

 
At 11:25 PM, Blogger rustafarian said...

nice story brian. is timmy a new friend? i've met him and his brother through donnie and i've seen some of the sick videos.

thanks for the compliment on the photo!

 
At 11:27 PM, Blogger rustafarian said...

by the way, you should call the 100 mile ride, "100 miles to amish cheese paradise"

 
At 12:10 PM, Blogger rustafarian said...

hey, will you be in aspen on friday 8/31 before labor day? some friends of mine are going, so i'm thinking of heading over friday for the nickelcreek / ben harper show. you going?

 
At 11:26 PM, Blogger Mike San Marco said...

Remember when you shoved me face-first into the door while I was running? That was really mean of you.

Were you trying to make me into a survival/overcoming/extraordinary-like story? You can't force those things.

At least that's what your mom said.

 

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