9/11—2008

flags and concrete

There doesn’t seem to be anything else to say that hasn’t already been said.

 

FiveBlocks

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A Second Helping.

 

Paul Bersebach and Carrie Turbow didn’t get enough last year and so this year they are going back.  If you happen to be up at 2am on Sunday morning for a glass of water or to check out why the dog is barking, take a moment to think of Bersebach and Turbow as they hit the trailhead on the way to a one day summit ascent of Mount Whitney; the highest point in the lower United States at 14, 496 feet. 

 

 Look skyward after a slow leisurely lunch around 2pm and you can imagine them at the summit.  At 8pm, after dinner and a post bar-b-que walk around the block, you can be assured that they will be just about back to where they started 18 hours before.  Their latitude and altitude in the California Sierras will allow them a few more seconds of sunset; for both of them, it’s worth it and everything they will have hoped for…again.

 

 About this time last year they had made the climb for the first time.  The 2007 effort had been a three day long tour of sorts but this year, it will be a sprint.  Bersebach, a staff photographer at the Orange County Register, is incorporating this climb, like last years, into a journal for the newspaper, to chronicle his efforts along with Turbow, his girlfriend. 

 

 

The two have only been hiking for three years and originally began after thinking back to common and shared moments on the trails with their fathers.  Upon signing the National Forestry logbook at the top Whitney last year, they each dedicated the climb to their respective dad’s.  I am wondering if, in order to solidify their thoughts, memories and love for dad, they haven’t organized the climb for father’s day this year.

 

“Carrie and I really have each thought back to the times we spent with our fathers, hiking and just spending time together…our focus has been to get back to that somehow with our climb on Whitney…”

 

 

 

 

 

Bersebach explains the immense satisfaction and relief of attaining the summit last year and it’s clear that it is the backbone to the plan for this year as well.  The mechanics of preparing equipment and practice climbs, each one more difficult and demanding than the one before, have meant more than a few trips to REI and a recent practice climb in the San Gorgonio Mountains. 

 

 

A big component of this year’s climb will be that they will be traveling a lot lighter and so will be “pumping” or filtering water as they go.  There is one thing that Bersebach will change from what he did last year.

 

“…last year we took a lot of energy goos and energy bars and this year we are going to concentrate on more things that are actually food…”

 

I asked him if he thought if he would learn or discover anything new this year on the climb and in that true straight forward common sense way that Midwesterners seem to be born with he said,

 

“…Nothing new…but the satisfaction in the completion of a goal….and …sore legs…” 

 

Actually, it sounds more Bersebachian than Midwestern.

 

 

2008:

 

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/dark-day-hike-2063413-feet-whitney

 

 

2007:

 

http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/news/local/sanclemente/climbingmtwhitney/article_1654215.php

 

http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/news/local/sanclemente/climbingmtwhitney/article_1679707.php

 

http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/news/local/sanclemente/climbingmtwhitney/article_1690557.php

 

http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/news/local/sanclemente/climbingmtwhitney/article_1697104.php

 

http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/news/local/sanclemente/climbingmtwhitney/article_1715975.php

 

http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/news/local/sanclemente/climbingmtwhitney/article_1733403.php

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Could This Be The First Annual Ride?

 

Over the past week I had already seen that several websites, from newspapers to cycling teams and a few industry sites, had highlighted the Sunday morning ride from San Clemente Cycles, in honor of Cuchessi.  I knew that there would be a lot of people just because the word of mouth; I went to take some photos and had to keep backing up as people kept coming.  Finally I got the best shot of everyone from the roof. 

 

Originally, to me, 120 people would have been a lot but then it turned out to be about 350 I would guess.  The motivation for the ride was not only to honor Cuchessi but also to talk about his spiritual side that many may not have known he had. 

 

The street next to the shop, San Luis Rey, filled up, row by row, of earnest cyclists with a mixed stew of their affiliation to San Clemente Cycles, printed on their jerseys.  Bright, volcanic neon colors everywhere, it was hard to focus on any single one thing except the bright shining faces ready to ride.  Some announcements were made as everyone quieted down and a few spoke of their weekly prayer and fellowship time with Cuchessi on early Thursday mornings at the shop.  It was not easy to hear everything said but there was no doubt about the effect Cuchessi had on everyone that he came across.

 

A few more announcements through a big Cal-Trans road cone (a very low-tech P/A system) and the group moved together for a group photo behind a banner that read “We Love and Miss You John 5.25.08”.  I think I was supposed to be in the front for the shot but then ended up on the roof.  I could hear my name being called and knew I’d never make it down; everyone was ready to go and anxious.  Now I’ll have to find someone to stitch it all together in Photo shop.

 

I guess it’s always something and it reminds me of what Cuchessi always used to say.  After one shared personal catastrophe or another he would inevitably comment “Well, Bro…if it’s the worst thing that ever happens to you, you’re pretty lucky”

 

 

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/ride-sunday-cuchessi-2051708-san-clemente

 

http://www.cboards.com/blog/2008/05/long-live-san-clemente-cyclery.html

 

 

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=420958

 

 

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