In Praise of Stasis

I debated about the title of this thread. I am looking for us to notice when you don't notice anything. When nothing on your body actually hurts. When you are not sick. When you are not mad at your spouse or kids - or disappointed in them, or yourself. Or, more to the point, when your bike does not creak and groan. When there aren't gnats flying in your nostrils, or crowds confounding your experience, or trails overgrown with brush or blown out by trail traffic...

I thought of titling it "When nothing's wrong..." but that may be a little too polly-anna. This is the anti-complaint thread.

I'll start. On my last four rides, my bike was friggin' awesome. There were no creaks, clicks, squeaks or groans. The suspension and tire pressure were dialed. I didn't want for different anything on the bike. I am not sure what to do when that's the case. Is it possible, or even healthy, for humans to not want something better at any (or every) given moment?

Do you notice when nothing's the matter? Do you care? Do you seek that experience, or is that equal to laziness, complacency and stagnation?

 

I love this post! I think I'm fortunate that this is me MOST of the time. I think this "stasis" is why I ride, all those other things that irritate, frustrate or distract me from how blessed we are to be alive and living in such an amazing world seem to melt away as soon as I hop on my bike. It's a truly theraputic activity for me, and I'd guess a lot of other people. BUT - Admittedly the past week every ride has been making me go insane. LOL. No joke, my serenity has been shattered by a little "weenka weenka weenk" I've been a professional bike mechanic in my past as a few high end shops and have always been meticulous about my bikes being mechanically "perfect". I am literally doing a full rebuild to ensure that wherever that little "weenka weenka weenk" is coming from is addressed and fixed before my next ride. The worst part is, I can't tell if the sound actually bothers me, or embarrasses me as I ride past someone!!!! Pride? Ego? Sheesh. I'm a mess.

 

A thoughtful topic, herz.

I've tricked myself into believing that, even when things are F'ed up, life is actually great. Because That Inevitable Whatever will always exist or occur – it's beyond my control. I can control how I react to TIW, though. In the advanced stages, TIW will actually trigger fulfillment. Lots of you know what I'm referring to...suffering is fun, the real adventure starts when something goes wrong, et cetera.

Maybe masochistic tendencies, or an appreciation of the spectrum of life. Maybe a case of positive denial. Injury has, I think, played into it. When distress in any form is a regular occurrence, whatcha gonna do? I'll drink the vinegar and smile. Entropy has the upper hand anyway, so embracing it seems like the right path.

 

My sister in-law would complain that there's nothing to complain about.

 

Now that's funny!!!

 

My last ride.. I went a new way but didn't get lost. My fork was under inflated and sagged into a jump, but I didn't crash. I was climbing a steep hill and really hoped I still had a lower gear, but knew I didn't and didn't take a look. I rode through clouds of gnats and wish there was a trout stream to cast into, but caught a full limit in my eyes. And I pushed so hard on the last climb I woke up twice in the wee hours with leg cramps. But the endorphins were flowing and the weather was ideal, the sun was setting but gave me enough light to get home, and as far as I was concerned.. all was right in the world. Is that stasis?

 

On my last ride I made it to the top of the climb first. I made it back to the vehicle first. I did not feel overly fatigued. I wanted to keep going. I think this qualifies!!!

 

Hmmm, not sure. It's appreciation for the good things in life certainly. It's resilience, existentialism and wisdom. Stasis is noticing that there's nothing to notice.

I am intrigued with the concept of "contentedness." In my profession, and in the American definition of success, contention is viewed with disdain and equated with laziness, stagnation, lack of vision, etc. So we all work like dogs to be better, to have more, to do more and we are not satisfied with what we have. 75% of my students' parents are divorced. They have to deal with a lot of crap from each parent badmouthing the other, split time with each parent, and deal with new spouses and blended families, and new little brothers and sisters from remarriages. It's f-ed up, and it messes with their own sense of self, place and purpose. Some divorces are done well - and improve the situation for kids - but in my experience, it's rare.

In MtB, we have to be faster, go farther, upgrade our bikes and our affiliated gear. Compare, compare, compare.

What is wrong with being satisfied?

EDIT: I am also always seeking to be faster, go farther and get better stuff, but frequently, I realize, I am pretty satisfied and very, very fortunate.

 

Glad I read this thread all the way through. I WAS going to flame on @herzalot for praising the East German secret police ... But, yes ... It's pretty rad when you are stoked with where you are at. Self actualization?

My profession is notorious for folks always wanting more, more, more.

I love my job. I love my hobbies. I love my family. I love my dog. I love my town. I love my friends. I love my life. I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Stasis, satisfaction, or self actualization? I dunno. I just go with f'ing fortunate and self aware.

Being born in the United States in the 20th century provides us with more material comfort and opportunities than just about any group of people in human history.

Be grateful and enjoy.

 

'Stasis" is nice, but I usually end up waiting for the other shoe to inevitably drop when it lingers for a long time.

Lots of good things come about with innovation, but trying to innovate just for the sake of trying to innovate doesn't always bode well for humankind. When not properly thought out, it can lead to things like common core math, 3rd marriages, dub-dubs on SUV's, McRib sandwiches, PF30, sub-woofers in the trunk, bad haircuts, New Coke, skinny jeans with a low crotch, and Kardashian worship.

Grace is the difference between knowing when innovation is the right path and 'innovating' just for the sake of innovation (change for the sake of change).

Strange creatures, we are.

 

Having the luxury of riding in circles is stasis to me because it is simply entertaining, highly unproductive, and I have nothing to produce.

 

@DangerDirtyD you nailed it.

@Daddy Dirtbag perfect. Folks running publicly traded companies mos def can't do stasis. And that begets low crotch skinny jeans, new coke, no doc mortgages, The Pontiac Aztek, etc.

 

A little sidestep here...

DDB mentioned Common Core math. As my daughter heads to first grade, I am preparing myself for the inevitable parental confusion that comes from grouping, set theory, addition by subtraction, group tests, alternate answers and other strange machinations.

As a high school principal, assistant principal and teacher in five schools in two states over the past 30 years, I have observed high schools struggle to solve the Algebra 1 problem. That is, kids either get mired in an endless rinse and repeat cycle in Algebra 1 (with up to 40% failure rates), or they get it just fine and move on up to Geometry, Alg 2, Precalculus and so on. Algebra 1 was the filter for college or not.

As we are getting kids who have more experience with CC math, our Algebra 1 failure rates are at about 5%. Furthermore, CC Algebra 1 is much tougher than the previous Algebra 1, because it involves a ton of reasoning, explanation and application (you know them as "word problems") plus probability and statistics. I can attribute some of the growth in Algebra 1 to improved curriculum and instruction, but we are actually seeing kids coming out of the middle schools with much better conceptual understanding - especially around parts of a whole (fractions, percent, decimals etc).

So, I am guessing I will start pulling out the rest of my hair as I try to comprehend just what the heck they are trying to teach my daughter when it comes to math, but on the other end of the spectrum, I'll have to worry about too many kids signing up for AP Calculus and AP Statistics. And that's a beautiful thing.

This sidestep is the case for anti-stasis. Like @Daddy Dirtbag says, knowing when to not accept stasis is key. I would argue that the Algebra 1 failure cycle was less of a stasis problem, than an acceptance of chronic back pain. "It's the way it is. Just live with it..."

It took a 74.5* effective seat angle to erase my back pain. Go math!

 

Excess and conformity ≠ satisfaction. SoCal is rife with E&C. Thankfully it's just a mindset which can be eschewed or changed.

 

A couple of my cents directed at this bike specific point, specifically FS and chassis setup, much narrower scope than the discussion has gone to...

As far as suspension tune, I'm a tinkerer at heart, always thinking about potential improvement. I don't feel there's anything wrong with my bike, it works very well for me on most trails, don't lust after a new one. But I also think there is always potential for improvement... i.e any suspension tune is a compromise to climb vs descend, and trail type i.e. fast stutter vs slower droppy and lippy jumps So I find myself thinking 'maybe a click or two less on the LSC, it's not bobbing at all right now, or maybe I should throw that volume spacer in and lower the psi', etc... All that pondering, and I haven't really changed suspension settings much in months (so maybe I am satisfied). But I still ponder it, and make small tweaks here and there just to try out.

So stasis re suspension tune.... for me, not completely. But that's part of the fun of having a full suspension bike imo, being able to tweak it to make it feel different/better for some situations, and put it back for others

 

Hope I'll be able to maintain the tune on my 3-wheeler walker. Are those XT brakes on that bad boy?

 

I love that progression, except the final bike before the walker should clearly be an XC 29er.

 

Ha! I never thought of this bike I'm riding as the last step before a walker, but it does feel a little like cheating. In terms of equilibrium (stasis) it works pretty well.

 

I think I have less of an issue that most of what is being taught is 'common', but not sure I agree with 'what' is being taught. I would think it would be difficult to determine which is more responsible if understanding of math is indeed improving. If they are all being taught 85% of the same thing, I think it is likely that their test scores (being tested on that same standardized material in the same standardized way) would likely improve. I have no idea of how that could be determined, so I will let my common core issues rest. Maybe I just fear what I do not understand :~)

BTW, if you're on a PC: Alt + 0176 = °

 

Common Core does not equal stasis.

However, comma (or semi-colon if you're a grammarian fixated on Latin, and trying to apply it to a West Germanic language....but I digress), I have achieved Herz's definition of stasis many times on my bikes. Every time I ride to work, I have an hour in which I can zone out (although my brain processes potential threats without input from me) each way. Unless my bike is having issues, which is rare.

So I turn the pedals, and I have a good ride, and I burn a few calories, and I get to work ready to tackle the minutiae of governmental ridiculousness. City Councils will be our downfall.

 

Something I haven't thought about in three years. My shoes. I don't notice them.

I bought a pair of Sidi Dominator 5s from The Path on closeout for about $120 about three years ago and haven't really thought about them since. Prior to that, I went through one or two pairs a year - often because the velcro closures gave out prematurely, but usually some sizing issues too - like too big, too small, hot spots, etc. Sidi has a patented Velcro lock system that takes the pressure off the hook and loop material and places the pressure on plastic teeth. That has worked to keep the closures working for so long. The fit has been perfect.

Here's to not noticing my shoes for another year or two!

 

That's good to know, as my Sidis just arrived at Roam.

 

Sidis...los Zapatos son de Italia!

 

My ride on Sunday exhibited stasis characteristics.
Getting out in the wild on my mountain bike is one of my favorites as well as scary and intimidating (part of the experience). Sharing that kind of stuff puts me in a euphoric state of being.

In regards to common core? I refer to our ranking. Many state we are 14th. I'm not so sure...
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tan...nd-science-but-still-lagging-internationally/

 

Thank you for this thread.

I like being happy. I like seeing other people happy. Just think if everyone felt this way??



BTW: I got that smiley face from my Happy Meal before @doublewide and I hit the Bike Park. It made me happy ...

 

I was lulled into satisfaction by using ALT 248. Now the competition is awakened and I realize I WIN - one less keystroke..........

 

Hard not to feel the love for Sidis. I had them for years the road, and couldn't be stasi-er with them for mountain biking. They're insanely durable as mine have gone through water crossings, been soaked with mud, and do trail work on a regular basis. Yesterday they did a HAB and long bushwhack. No worries ever, except for the velcro. But so comfortable I'd duct tape them on rather than go with another brand.

 

Like @Daddy Dirtbag above, I'm usually the guy waiting for the other shoe to drop... That served me well for years, but I think I'm finally getting to a more mellow point in life. As far as stasis on the bike? When it's running absolutely silent, and all I can hear are the tires and my breathing, that's stasis. When I pull back on the bars, maintain a good cadence, and rock side to side on a good climb, in silence, that's stasis.

As wet and cold as I was on Harding the other day, the entire climb was stasis, encased in the clouds with no visibility, alone with my thoughts.


And shoes... @herzalot made me think about my new shoes. I recently upgraded from a cheap pair of Shimanos to a very nice pair of Pearl Izumis. The difference is night and day, and I'm getting to the point that they are "just there".

 

I like this x 4 for the four perfect examples of unnoticed satisfaction that this thread is about. Well done Steve!

 

OK, I gotta admit, my Dominators were getting almost impossible to get out of after a ride. The buckles wouldn't come undone. Panic would set in and stasis was compromised, but only after I got home.

So, email to Sidi.. no reply. Total clean and lube--miracle cure! (Why am I so lazy?) I cleaned the velcro and even blow dried it with hot air (ala the internet), and it's a little better but not strong. Next step is a shoe repair shop or needle and thread. Sidi stasis in process of being fully restored. Riding stasis strong and holding.