Who is Grog?
The short version:
Grog is a just an average Joe who enjoys the outdoors and adventure sports. He enjoys processing his thoughts in writing, so he decided to put pen to paper and start this personal blog. There’s no real purpose to this blog aside from Grog rambling to himself, but if others find it entertaining or useful in any way, then that’s great.
The long version:
No… my name isn’t actually Grog; it’s a nickname. I hope there aren’t parents out there cruel enough to name their child “Grog”. It’s not the coolest or most elegant sounding name. When you hear it, maybe you picture a hulkish brute clumsily walking down the stairs or someone just waking up in bed and is… groggy. Who came up with the nickname? Autocorrect did.
A friend of mine hosted weekly virtual bike rides on Zwift during the winter months and invite some of his buddies. He was introducing me to another friend of his at one of these rides and his phone autocorrect whatever he typed in as “Grog”, and I just decided to run with it. We later came to the agreement that it was a suitable nickname for a new-to-racing cyclist who rode like a grinder.
While I do love playing sports, I am by no means a pro athlete or even a competitive amateur. In fact, some people might say I’m awful. To them, I say, “why must you hurt me so? :’( ” But there’s truth to that. I work a desk job, sitting in front of a computer all day. I’m just an average guy in the throngs of corporate America who daydreams of being able to take a year off work to live as a dirtbag and hike the PCT, cycle across Europe, or trek the Himalayas. So, I take what I can get. After work, on the weekends, or with my vacation days, I go into the outdoors to enjoy mother nature and a bit of type II fun.
- I hike. But nothing too serious cause I have the knees of an octogenarian. Day hikes, overnights, and once every decade a long trek in some far off land (maybe in the back country). Will I ever bag an eight-thousander and call myself an alpinist? Probably not. Let’s just call it an aspiration. Throw in some camping, alpine lakes, via ferrata? Yes, please.
- I ski. Just casual. I grew up skiing the east. Icy groomers? Yeah, that’s my jam. But I also like to get out west or out of the iced coast every year to find some powder. Favorite memory? Accidentally finding the ice cave at Blackcomb Glacier. Had no idea it was there. Was just playing around off the side of the resort piste. I’m also on a journey to delve into alpine touring. I guess it’s part of that alpinist aspiration.
- I bike. This is the most recent of the sports, but now what I spend the most time doing. Road, Gravel, and MTB. Crits, gran fondos, gravel grinders, cyclocross, single track, XC. I enjoy them all, though I’m not a podium contender and I consistently get my butt kicked at races.
Occasionally, I might write about some other outdoor adventures like kayaking or trail running, but I don’t do those nearly as often. So, that’s all this is about. I write for myself to retain and process things I learn. I’m just rambling as I try and learn new things or reminisce on old things.
