All the way from Fort Collins! (DEN)

Today’s blog is brought to you by the bearded man in Fort Collins that loved this shit so much that he decided to start it there. If you haven’t met him on the few occasions that he’s been here, I feel bad for you. It’s rare, but when he shows up he brings that funk like nobody else, and melts right into the core of this tribe. Of course, I’m talking about Mr. Hans Tishmack!

WARNING!! – SAPPY PROFANITIES ALERT!!
Matt/Woody/Mollz/Dan & NP5280,
1st – Happy Fucking Birthday. You guys are amazing and so is all this.
2nd – Just wanted to pass along a little (HA!) note (novel) of appreciation. Thanks for all of this. Please pass along if you wish.
There’s a couple times in life when you come across something you that rarely think will make much of a difference. Dropping an empty can in the trash next to the recycling bin (you asshole!), passing somebody on the sidewalk without even a “what’s up” chin lift (stranger danger!), being the first to #justshowup to workout in a big empty park and thinking “well this was a great fu*king idea” (cheer the fu*k up, man). A lot of times it’s so much easier to just let those things occur, ignore it happened and just carry on with our routine. Just let it all go. Little do we know, it’s the small things that have big impacts on more than just us – they hit home on the things around us instead, proof that there’s a lot more out there than just the “individual us.”
Everyone that comes to NP for the first time is brought there for different reasons. A popular one being a guilt trip laid out for us from an overactive friend that you saw turn into a morning person over just a few months and now won’t stop posting pictures on YouTwitFaceTagrams. Or, as I experienced one time with NP_YVR, on vacation. I later found out there had been a group organized in Denver, only a short hour and fifteen minute from my home in Fort Collins, but the distance made it a tad geographically undesirable. I carried on with my typical lunch ride or run, when I felt like it, and just let it all go.
Months later I was spending the weekend with my Pops while he was in the hospital finishing up his second round of cancer treatment and a bone marrow transplant. Heavy stuff, as it was touch and go for a while and since mi Madre was sick with the flu, I hung out with him for the better part of a week to help out, watch a little football and make sure he got his rest. They released him a couple days later and off we were to an area hotel room. In between visits to the hospital for extra check-ups, dressing changes, and blood tests, we spent the rest of the time in the room so he could sleep uninterrupted – which he did for about 18 straight hours. I was losing it. I was physically and emotionally drained, I had let it all go and had nothing else. I had gone on walks, downstairs to the pool to dip my feet in the water (no trunks as I had only planned to stay with him once overnight in the hospital, until Mum became sick) I was so bored, I went back to the hospital to give blood and platelets because I felt it was all I could have done.
Tuesday afternoon, on a whim, I shot a message to the NP5280 Facebook page. “Are you guys still having a workout tomorrow? I’ve been cooped up in a hospital for days, now in a hotel in Ruhrorah, am craving a little energy and need to GTFO. Pops may or may not make it to the workout – he’s been passed out for about a day. Any room for an out-of-towner?” Minutes later Matthew wrote me back saying “We’ll be on the capitol steps at 5:30 and 6:15 and we look forward to seeing you.” I frantically ran to the store to pick up a pair of shorts (neon yellow were on sale) and an extra shirt to get sweaty and gross. Back at the hotel, I ate a quick dinner, checked on Pops, set my alarm for “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me-o-clock” and turned in early.
Wednesday morning came early, like “I don’t wake up this early even for vacation” early, and I flew downtown where I was the first to show up. I paced for a while, not sure if folks were gonna show, and about to head back to the car when Matthew come in on his bike with spare hugs to give. Then about fifteen other strangers all at once. More hugs. I let it all go and went on my own hugging spree before the bounce.
That was just what my non-doctor ordered; a full-fledged dose of strangers and community wrapped up as an absolute ass-kicking. 2015 was a trainwreck from the get-go, and not just for this cancer shit, just adulting in general – it was like everything was piling up getting shoved in front of me and there was nothing I could do but take a little at a time. NP was never something I wanted, but was there when I needed it most. This movement taught me that things can come together and make absolutely ZERO fucking sense, and make you forget about all the other crap that happening around you, then when it’s done leave you focused (and winded) to get back at it. We have to make time for ourselves, our friends, our families, our jobs, our responsibilities, our health and well-being, our sanity. Once in a while WE HAVE to let it all go, but then come back to it. We all have to take a little of the bad shit every once in a while, but take some of the good with it, so it’s not so fucking bad all the time.
I’m so thankful to this group of all types of folks that gather for all sorts of reasons for bringing me into the fold, and especially for letting me know someone was starting a group up here in The Fort. Being just a small part of this movement has made me a better person, and has made me want to pay it forward and do epic shit for other folks, specifically every Wednesday for the past year and until the end of time, somewhere around Fort Collins, at 5:45am (Wednesday Project FTC on FB & IG, #recruiteveryblog).
Big fucking sweaty hugs from Up North, -H
P.S. Pops is great now, 2016 sucks so much less to be an adult, and the FOCO tribe may be small but we are #FeistyAF.

The sign on the bike path near my house that inspired this long-winded thank you note. I took this picture last year and thanks to the Facebook “Not to bring up old shit, but here ya go” history feature, it came back in the nick of time.

FOCO Group – +/- 3 or 4.

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