Abbey Smith: April 2010 Blog
On April 20 I left my sublime mountain sanctuary in Eldorado Springs to embark on a fast-paced, two-week adventure from Maryland to Monaco. Once again, I’m on the road and living out of two suitcases -- one filled with hoodies and climbing shoes, and the other is jam-packed with frilly dresses and elegant heels. As I cross into new time zones, losing hours of my life, I’ve fallen into travel induced delirium. I see doppelgangers around every corner through my heavy, hazy eyes. No food, then fast food. Individually packaged, processed, single serving snacks replace real home cookin’. I poach internet and public bathrooms. As I breathe in the airport’s stuffy, sticky, recirculated air, I yearn for a fresh mountain breeze. When I land I kiss the ground -- rebirth in a new city.
My journey began in Timonium, Maryland, forerunning for the
Earth Treks Roc Comp. For one week, I spent never-ending days and nights with the all-star route setting team Scott Mechler, Jason Kehl and Jordi Salas, as well as the
NE2C boys, Jason Danforth and Pete Ward, Obe Carrion and locals Ryan Banister and Tim Rose. Combined, they have the most experience and talent of any setting crew I’ve ever worked with. Together, their individual styles span a broad spectrum from simple, dynamic pulls to tenuous, technical funk, and thought-provoking 3-D spins. By the end, my knees were weak, my shoulders were tight, my core was battered, and my fingertips were soft and pink. On our first day off -- my final day in Maryland -- the sky turned from clear blue to foggy gray. Even though it was too damp to climb, Jason, Jordi and I visited Rocks State Park, where Jason first rock climbed, explored, free-soloed, circuited, and developed beautiful lines. Afterwards we joined his family for a delicious home cooked meal of Maryland-style crab cakes and tender pork ribs.
Now I’m off to Monte Carlo in Southern France to attend the 7th annual Historique Grand Prix. Two years ago, in my first
Dead Point blog, I mentioned the beginning of what has been a long road to script writing and producing a potential reality racing television series that follows the contemporary drivers and mechanics of the most iconic Formula One cars from the golden era of the 1960s and 70s. Now, my California-based partners and I have decided to take the risk...to go flat out...to make our dream a reality. We’ve pulled together a talented crew of videographers, writers and photographers to produce a potential television pilot...in less than one week. For the last two months my dreams have been of dueling race cars and near miss accidents. At this moment, I’m free soloing and can’t fall...
“Now boarding Delta flight 82 with non-stop service to Nice, France...”
That’s my cue.
