In the books we tout the idea of going on a demanding, athletic trip once in awhile. Keep you motivated…get you to crank it up…all that. They are called "kedges". And I just went on a hell of a kedge (hence no blogs for a while…no phone lines out there).

The Craftsbury rowing center is way to-hell-and-gone in nothern Vermont and is one of the best known (and most demanding) sculling centers in the country. It was a six hour drive from our place in the Berkshires, but I almost turned around and drove home, moments after I arrived. Because the people in line to check in when I got there were scary.

Women. One particularly nice looking women in her mid thirties with short hair, about which she obviously did not care a lot. And healthy arms and legs. Very, very healthy arms and legs. She was the scary one. You did not think "animal" because she was really attractive. But the notion of "animal" was back there somewhere, and not necessarily a domestic one either. Her pals looked almost as serious. I thought – not for the first time since I started all this stuff – that I had fallen into the wrong crowd. Or had been dumb to follow my own advice. Well…yes and no. It was a massive challenge, a great treat and, eventually, a superb experience. [details in following blogs].