GUM, HILLIER & McCROSKEY, P.A.

Patrick McCroskey is an outdoorsman and an extreme sports enthusiast. An admitted adrenaline junkie, Patrick chose Asheville as home because of the pristine beauty and abundant natural resource it offers. Whenever humanly possible, Patrick loads up and heads off to the great untamed to rope in his share of the wild side.

Patrick says:

If there is rain in the forecast, paddling is a must unless the rivers are above a reasonably safe level, or if you are looking at creek runs, there may be other items in the water best left untouched (steel drums, dilapidated trailers, Chevrolet Chevettes formerly on blocks, tires and the occasional cow come to mind.) This can make for an unpleasant run down a Class III-V run…maybe best left for another day later in the week. But that leaves the mountain biking open for some mud runs…unless the trails are too soft. Which leaves the road biking, unless the rain is still coming down and you don't want to trust your life at 40 m.p.h. to a piece of steel and carbon fiber that weighs less than an overweight Chihuahua. Maybe the dojo today, and biking or paddling later in the weekend.

The real question, I guess, is this: Why do I do these things? Whitewater kayaking, mountain biking, road biking, karate and jiu-jitsu? The truth is, I'm an adrenalin junkie, and these things are a rush. A pure adrenalin rush. Sure, there are other reasons: I stay in better shape (I have not yet climbed to the executive spread that many of my classmates now sport) and I feel better (aside from the separated shoulders, bruises, cuts and occasional sprains) every day. I feel healthier, have more energy and generally have a better attitude. I want to live life now, not at some point in the future when I have amassed sufficient wealth to afford the nursing care related to forty years of poor health choices. These activities provide me wealth beyond measure: Life. They represent a reduction in stress levels to manageable tolerances. It is extremely difficult to hold on to anger, frustration, anxiety or other negative emotions when you are bombing down a narrow single track mountain bike trail, eighteen inches wide, with a sheer drop on one side and roots and off camber trail on the other. It's tough to hold on to that lousy decision that the judge entered, the decision that flies in the face of decency, humanity, and dare I say it, one hundred years of case law, because “it just doesn't feel right” when my kayak and I are riding a hydraulic known as Jaws, throwing cartwheels, end over end, spinning 360 degrees and then back again. There is no room for anything else. And I really don't have time to think about the paperwork at the office when there's a 220 lb man trying to choke me unconscious during a randori of jiu-jitsu… I have other things on my mind.

Patrick's article about maintaining your healthy outlook as an attorney for the new Cutting Edge Law Magazine premiering this summer, from which the above passage was excerpted, is only one one of the many things he does to give back to his profession and community. Patrick also teaches self-defense classes to women and has been a recurrent guest speaker at the Asheville Area Paralegals Association events, teaching paralegals in the area safety and self-defense.

GUM, HILLIER & McCROSKEY, P.A.
47 N. Market Street • Post Office Box 3235
Asheville, North Carolina 28802
828-258-3368 • fax 828-252-6721
info@gumandhillier.com