You Only Live Once
Sunday, January 13, 2008 at 3:42PM That's what I told myself as I shoved my way into the Pit while watching heavy metal gods The Sword at Emo's in Austin on Saturday night.
Let me back up a bit. The day started off with a nice jog. 20 miles at a 12 minute mile pace and average HR of 133 bpm. This was done off-road, mind you, on the mountain bike trails at Lake Bryan. I had to get up around 4 AM to do this run and then make it to Austin with Emily and friends.
The run went well. I was pleasantly surprised at my low HR. I also used the foot pod that works with my Suunto T6 and it was measuring the distances perfectly, far better than GPS in dense tree cover.
I was the only person on the trails that morning. It's a shame that more people don't know about it, but hey, I'll take the solitude.
Pete, Sharon, Emily, and I (all triathletes) loaded up into the minivan and headed to Austin. First stop: Bicycle Sport Shop. Pete is new to triathlon and is the market for a new bike. BSS is huge and has an incredible selection, so it wasn't long until he found a nice Specialized Allez on sale. I found the highly rated super blinky light gadget from Planet Bike (review to come), a new bite valve for my camelbak, some BMC socks, and Emily scored some feminen-y something or nother that I can't really recall at the moment.
We then met up with Brent and Jennifer at Chuy's for dinner. Love the Chuy's.
After paying some homeless guys not to take a dump on the hood keep watch on our car, we went into the first bar near Emo's, which was Coyote Ugly. It is exactly like the movie: Hot chicks dancing on a big bar. Due to the vast amount of free porn on the internet, I was only moderately impressed with fully clothed women stomping their clodhoppers, but things got more interesting after Emily and Sharon got up there and then did body shots off of some of the staff.
I decided this evening needed more spice, so I started alternating Patron shots with Newcastles and then vaguely remember one of the staff yelling over the PA system that guests are not to grope the bartenders. I'm not sure what that was all about, but it didn't matter because we were on our way out the door.
The first band to go on at Emo's was mostly talented. I say that because the singer was this fat guy that had his 3 foot long hair stuck to his face and simply shrieked into the microphone. Move on to band 2, please!
Trigger Renegade was fantastic. I think the guitar of the lead singer should be put in the hall of fame already. That thing was amazing.
When The Sword took the stage, things seemed normal. Their first two songs were new, and aside from the chick in front of me hitting me in the face several times with her uplifted hand making the devil sign, I was enjoying the show.
Then all hell broke loose. The Sword launched into one of their more popular and familiar songs and the crowd around us literally exploded into a whirlwind of flying bodies. Our group of six got off to the side a quickly as possible. For the rest of the night, we were on the perimeter of a heaving mass, convulsing with a dangerous mix of elation and anger.
After about four songs, I got the crazy idea in my head that it might be fun to jump in the pit. I mean, nobody was getting hurt and this is one of my favorite bands and I'm not getting any younger, right? Emily said that I handed her my jacket and said, "hold on to this!" and then just shoved my way in. She had no idea where I was going.
Pete and Brent said what happened next was awesome. I was moshing, shoving, jumping just like all the other idiots and would turn back at them to smile only to get broadsided and thrown around. This went on for several minutes.
Then I disappeared.
At some point during the rolling and crushing of swaying bodies, my legs got swept out from under me. Like a non-swimmer, I was clawing my way to the surface only to get shoved down again. I never got scared, because it was all happening so fast. Then my left shoe flew off.
A 6'4" 200 lb. dude on the floor of a mosh pit will tend to cause other people to fall down. Eventually, there were several of us on the ground and some people stopped their "dancing" long enough to help us out. I paused to try to find my shoe, but I couldn't see it anywhere. Next goal: Get my one-shoe ass out of that mosh pit.
I couldn't get out! I'd make some progress only to get shoved back in even deeper than before. Finally, I made it to the edge and my friends were laughing their asses off. I told them I also had lost my shoe. That was even funnier. In a break between songs, Brent spotted it and dove in to grab it.
We got home late last night and I had a boot print on the top of my left foot. Emily said it was an incredible experience.
I went for a bike ride today to shake the lactic acid out of my legs from yesterday's run. After two hours, I got bored and called it a ride. I find it interesting that I can now run or bike for longer than I have time to. I'm having to call runs and rides done because I have to get home, not because I'm tired. I suppose that's a sign of some dang good aerobic fitness.
I'll probably go for an hour run tonight. Not sure yet. I think I need a nap.
Reader Comments (8)
Firstly, nice mix - Patron and Newcie Brown, one of my "growing beers" back in Blighty.
My last experience of a moshpit was in London. An army pal invited me to go to a Levellers gig with him, and warned me that I should wear boots, preferably with steel toecaps. I forgot and went with running shoes; the most bruised parts of my body ended up being my feet, but what a laugh.
I tried the Patron because it is a sponsor of the Dawn and Drew show. It was great! They serve it with a slic of lime to chew after the shot.
I kept asking for a dark beer and they said they only either had Shiner Bock or Guinness. In my opinion, Guinness out of a bottle tastes way too weak. I finally caved and asked for the Newcastle. I had forgotten how good it is! It is available at lots of places, so I guess it's my new drink.
My shoes? They were Reef flip-flops. I live dangerously. ;)
Uhhhhh yeah! Why didn't you just flip upside down and spin? Everyone within reach of your feet would have been sent reeling under the created vortex. When is Disney going to come out with the Narnia book about those Duffelpuds. I'm not sure how to post a photo here but I'll post one on TriScoop that I'm sure properly reflects your anatomy ;)
The great thing about a good pit is people always help you up.
RMA, you are truly metal. Only somebody well-versed in the Music of Darkness would know that peeps in the pit stop to help out others. Word.
You said "Super blinky" :)
Watching a drunken slobbering Brett bouncing around in a pit of crazed metals fans……words can just not describe. Suffice to say a 30-something, 6’4” 200 pound tri-dude moshing with 15 year old “emo” kids is an experience, especially when they push him to the ground and kick the s**t out of him. When he finally got off the ground he looked like the people who do the “running of the bulls” and don’t run fast enough.
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