When you are on the erg your mind is too busy to pay attention to the sounds of the machine; you notice only that they are indeed loud.

Think of aerobics plus weight lifting minus the music or camaraderie. Combine unalloyed endurance with straightforward strength and demand poise, timing, and practiced form as well. Think of pure pain: that's the ergometer.

A boat is the hardest think I know of to put into perspective. It is so much like a human figure, there is something alive about it.

In college, I was an editor on the student daily... To the extent that I noticed the existence of crew at all, I saw only what appeared to be big-boned acolytes who rose at dawn.

The oars game me power but also taught me humility.

Rowing it was pointed out, was a sport that risked few injuries. So it was, I ould discover, but only if you did it right.

There is a place where cerebral an corporeal meet: they call it rowing