“You can’t like that move,” I told Mike as I floated gently past the City Lights crux, “but you get so you can do it.” Smear right foot on polished white slab, throw left foot up to ear in pod, rock over. I used to call it improbable but now I’d call it familiar.

On the one hand, you get a route wired and you can cruise it even on days you’re not up to that level. That’s the way I felt on Modern Times. I knew it ought to be hard or scary or committing and that doing it at the end of the day on my second day out with a veritable stranger for a partner was insane, but it only felt normal and fun, like watching a favorite movie with a new friend.

On the other hand, you think you should be fine so when you’re not, you’re rattled. You think you know everything so when it’s unexpected, it’s horrible. That’s how I felt on Maria Direct. Sure, Maria Direct is hard and scary and committing but shouldn’t it have felt like Modern Times did the afternoon before? Why did my right hand insist on moving when my left hand knew it had a job to do? But the right hand way turned out to be so much better. Who changed: the route or me? And when did Maria Direct grow a jug to replace the horrible slopey mantle move? (Thank God it did or I was going to die there Friday.) Have I been sucker-punched by my own memory?

There were pieces of Jean I knew so well I could have downclimbed them, and there were pieces that seemed to have been borrowed from some other climb I haven’t done yet. I got my hands crossed at the crux and I used the anchor gear below the anchor. Where does that come from? Why am I touching the sucker hold on Something Interesting? I really, really wanted to use that sucker hold. What if the sucker hold leads to the One True Way and I’ve been blinded by routine? I may never know.

Maybe it’s time for some new routes.

Thursday with Mike:
City Lights, 5.7 (P1 & 2: Dawn)
Son of Easy O, 5.8 (P1: Dawn, P2: Mike)
Jean, 5.9 (Dawn)
Modern Times, 5.8 (P1: Mike, P2: Dawn)

Friday with Todd:
Apoplexy, 5.9 (Todd)
Maria Direct, 5.9 (Dawn)
Maria P2, 5.4 (Dawn)
Ape Call, 5.8 (P1 & 2: Todd)
MF, 5.9 (P1: Dawn)
Still Crazy After All These Years, 5.10 (Todd)
Something Interesting, 5.7 (Dawn)

Saturday with Steven and Miriam:
Maria, 5.6 (P1: Steven, P2: Miriam, P3:Dawn)
Groovy, 5.8 (Steven)
Bonnie’s Roof, 5.8 (P1: Dawn, P2: Steven)
Strictly from Nowhere, 5.7 (P1: Dawn)