Singletrack Mind

When animals attack...

2010-08-17T13:48:00.000-07:00

Today I updated the look and feel of a blog I rarely post on any more. That brought much satisfaction. To say I have the attention span of a common sparrow might even be an embellishment on some days, now an uncommon sparrow, that might be another story. Go to the main page if you want to see what I'm talking about. Leave a comment if you read this. :)

If only we'd listened...

2010-06-19T13:41:00.000-07:00

It's not about the money

2010-05-24T13:28:00.000-07:00

I rarely post about work, just think that overall it's a bad idea... However, this one has me cracking up.

A few weeks back my work announced there were getting rid of free soda. No big deal to me, I don't drink it. The funny thing was an email was sent mentioning it wasn't about the money, but it was because they wanted to promote a healthier workplace with healthier options in the soda machine.

So what did they replace it with? Amp Energy drink and Gatorade, and for only $2.30 a piece...

Amp, according to Pepsi's website, has 80mg of caffeine per 8 oz serving, each can is 16oz, 160mg total unless you only drink half a can... Conversely, a cup of coffee has around 100mg. Amp also has 29g of sugar in an 8oz serving, making it 58g of "sugar" for the entire can. A can of Coke is 40g of sugar. Of course "sugar" in this case is the highly processed high fructose corn syrup. Thanks for helping us make "healthier" choices!

Here is the ingredient list for Amp..

(8.4oz serving) Carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, citric acid, natural flavor, orange juice concentrate, guarana (paullinia cupana) seed extract, sodium benzoate , sodium hexametaphosphate, maltodextrin, caffeine, gum arabic, ascorbic acid, taurine, panax ginseng root extract, calcium disodium edta, potassium benzoate, brominated vegetable oil, yellow 5, b vitamins: niacinamide, calcium pantothenate, riboflavin, vitamin b12, pyridoxine hydrochloride; blue 1.

Yummmmm! Sound "healthy" to me! Hopefully no one goes to the ER after consuming these "healthy" drinks.

And don't get me wrong, I have nothing against Gatorade when using it during activity, but as a "healthy drink" while people sit at their desk? It's loaded with "sugar" as well, really high fructose corn syrup.

Either someone making the decisions is grossly misinformed or they just need to start calling a duck a duck and let us know that it is about the money.

An open letter to Driscoll's Fine Berries

2010-05-20T13:27:00.000-07:00

An open letter to Driscoll's Fine berries.

Dear Driscoll's,

Your berries are like crack to an addict. except they are good for you. I've never tasted something that makes my tastebuds leap off of my tongue and do a little happy dance. I know that you have secret breeding facilities where you grow all of your varieties from scratch to be better than the others, and I also know that most of your berries are in the store the same day they are picked.

Have you seen SuperSize Me? Your berries are so damn good that, if you provide the berries, I'll eat nothing but your berries (and the occasional avocado and Cheesehead Mozzarella cheese for fat and protein) for a month. I don't care if I turn in to a big strawberry, blueberry, raspberry, or blackberry like the kid in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, they are that good.

Please Driscoll, consider my offer and set me up with a month of your berries for this experiment. :)

Made another fun little video

2009-11-05T14:46:00.000-07:00

I made another fun little biking video... If you are getting this update in an email or in your feed reader and the video doesn't show up, simply come over to the blog's main page and watch it there, it's cute!

Ayshia in Search for the Holy Trail from Scott DeLeeuw on Vimeo.

Had a little fun over the weekend...

2009-10-05T06:31:00.000-07:00

When you get bored, and you inevitably will (or sick), skip to 3:51, never have bagpipes fit a trail so beautifully. At 4:48 the trail gets amazing.

I also left in where I nearly went over the handlebars. First one to comment with the correct time where I nearly had the mishap will win a complimentary Big Mac and become an unwitting part of my Big Mac feeding frenzy.

This is Colorado Trail 1776. After a mind numbing 6 mile (or so) trip up a dirt road you are rewarded with some amazing singletrack. Often the torturous dirt road has bighorn sheep on it, so that can be a redeeming moment on a boring part of the route.

Amelia at 12,000ft

2009-09-06T17:50:00.005-07:00

Warning: Adorable baby pictures ensue, all taken by cell phone...

While the rest of the gang was having a stellar time at Monarch Crest, we were down in LaVeta and decided to take the girls on a hike to the West Spanish Peak. It was Amelia's first time hiking up to tree line, and possibly Ayshia's as well.

It's important to have eye protection

West Spanish Peak

That backpack color is "salmon" :)

Man, the brim is HUGE! And Amelia is sleeping away!

The rainbow of the storm we missed.

Trying to crawl like a big girl!

One hell of a week

2009-08-21T21:03:00.004-07:00

Man, I'm glad this week is over... 16 hours at work on Saturday to put in a Lawson upgrade. A couple hours on Sunday to fix a small issue... Thought it was going good until another team brought us down all day Monday. Got that fixed and we were plagued with problems of collateral damage all week. Today I was asked why I hadn't had a meltdown yet, I think I'm too fried and exhausted to get worked up.

Had a sweet sweet ride up Colorado Trail 1776 to Lenny's Rest on Wednesday though after just missing Brett, Chris, and Marni doing Chimnapex, upon getting out of work late again. I debated hitting the Roxborough loop as I had a light along, but decided against it. Even with the short route it was dark by the time I got back to the car, so it was probably a good decision. For such a normally busy trail I saw about 3-4 people all night, which was stellar. It always blows my mind how much flatter I notice that trail is every time I ride it, not to say it gets any easier because I just get fatter. Did see fresh bear crap on the way down that wasn't there on the way up. My downhill skills have definitely gone to crap this year not racing, I need to return to the dirt a good deal more before Chequamegon so I don't feel like a sissy Mary going downhill.

Speaking of Cheq, rode with Brett last night, man that boy is fast... I mentioned I was a little fried from riding harder Wednesday and that we could ride as long as it was an easy ride. Most of the time I sat in his draft hanging on, I wasn't breathing hard but my legs felt flat and lifeless. That didn't stop us from doing probably way too many sprints and attacks though, which were way more fun than they should have been. :) On one of the non-sprints I just queried as to how fast we were going, "around 21 or 22" was the response. So much for riding easy, but that's what whey protein is for and I had a tremendous blueberry-acai-flax-whey-orange juice smoothie when I got home. We did see Nelson Vales in the res, that boy is huge and still incredibly fit!

Paid for last night's fun riding to work today though... But a funny thing happened as I was just done climbing Peakview and turning on to Havana... Feeling cooked, out of water, just wanting to get home and have a beer, a kid on a BMX pops out of nowhere, red as a tomato, sweat pouring off him and says to me, "how do you ride so fast?'... I laughed as I struggled to turn the pedals, "gears man gears"... I let up and rode with him for about 3 blocks just talking away until he turned off to go play at his school.

Reminds me of when I went to help Craig and Carol load up a trailer with some hay bales for their horses a few weeks ago. The guy's wife mentioned Craig would need to bring some help as the guy is 80+ and wouldn't be able to help. Pulled up, got the gloves on, walked over, and the 80+ yr. old cowboy said, "You look like a good HUSKY fella"... We both laughed and he clarified, "good and strong to throw bales is what I meant"... Oh man, the horror the horror, I remember having Wrangler HUSKY jeans as a kid...

Go Chris!

2009-07-03T23:47:00.001-07:00

Go Chris, you're a maniac! Amazing what 4 years can do!

http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=118857&catid=188

skinny bridges

2009-06-29T13:01:00.003-07:00

Aysh went off to ride while we sat waiting for friends to finish. When I hadn't seen her for awhile I went out looking for her, afraid she might have followed a trail off in to the woods to get lost. That's when I saw her, over in the bike park, sitting at the top of a hill waiting to go over a bridge that others on downhill bikes in full gear were doing.

Aysh on a bridge in the Winter Park bike park

Dumb and dumber

2009-06-21T19:30:00.002-07:00

Aysh and I got the Trail70 running this weekend and took it for an illegal ride around the neighborhood. Keep it on the down-low and please don't call the po-po. Turn up the sound for this...

Dumb and Dumber - Trail70

Last weekend we hit the BMX track and had a little fun.

Ayshia at Highlands Ranch BMX

I rode today and it was a beautiful thing...

2009-05-12T16:16:00.002-07:00

I rode my bike today and it was a beautiful thing. It had been 4 weeks since having the cast off and being off crutches, and nearly 10 weeks since my ankle was fixed. I tried to ride last week and sadly turned around about four blocks from home. Today I was given the ok to ride provided the ankle was wrapped with ace wraps and I did nothing stupid.

Being immobile for so long is a great reminder of the things that you take for granted. My ride only lasted 20 minutes and that was maybe even too much, but it was that pure enjoyment that you feel as a kid out riding that can never be bottled. Hitting the trails just because they are there, finding where a new branch of trail goes, wind in your hair, tires whirring along the pavement, and legs methodically going around in circles. It was fabulous....

I was also amazed though how much my wrists, back, and butt hurt, and how fast my lungs and legs gave out, I doubt kids have those pains. :)

What's wrong with this picture?

2009-04-30T07:51:00.002-07:00

You may need to click on it to see it larger, but what's wrong with this picture? Leave a comment if you know...

funny stuff....

2009-04-19T21:10:00.000-07:00

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

M - Th 11p / 10c

Baracknophobia - Obey

thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Economic Crisis

Political Humor

Melissa and I laughed pretty hard at this one...

2009-03-16T11:40:00.001-07:00

this video is awesome! Well worth your time!

2009-03-03T16:08:00.000-07:00

I've been silent

2009-02-26T14:47:00.002-07:00

I've been trying to decipher the letters here, wow...

Untitled

2009-01-08T18:03:00.005-07:00

After a year of complaining every now and then about my ankle hurting, hopefully I'll have a little closure for it. I initially hurt it skiing Loveland in late 2007 when my foot pulled almost all the way out of my ski boot instead of the bindings coming loose. You can imagine how much that hurt when you think of how tight ski boots are, in retrospect I'm glad my ankle was the weak link and not my knee.

I thought I sprained it and patiently waited for it to heal as ankle sprains take a long time. After about 6 months of no change, I went to the doctor and was prescribed anti-inflammatories and ankle exercises. I did them, but it made it worse, and then I just forgot about it for another 6 months. Sure, it hurt, but it's not like it was the end of the world, and it just became a normal feeling. Finally I figured I should probably go in again as after a year it was still swollen and the locking was becoming more frequent and painful when it happened.

The MRI showed a 9mm x 18mm hole in my talus (ankle bone) that has been displaced with fluid. The doctor said normally that happens when a piece of bone gets ripped off and a tear in cartilage allows it to be displaced with joint fluid. They couldn't find a fragment, but I guess that doesn't mean anything, the bone had to go somewhere. They also found a lot of scar tissue narrowing the ankle "gutter", which explains why my ankle locks up at times and a lot of walking or biking is pretty painful.

After telling me it wouldn't heal itself and I was looking at early-onset arthritis if I left it, the doctor gave a couple of options for surgery that pretty much followed the site below. After looking at the site options, I thought the drilling and bone cement looked best. I guess that is only possibly when the cartilage is intact, which mine isn't.

http://www.osteochondraldefects.com/treatment/index.html

He recommended taking a plug of bone from my heal (which would heal back, no pun intended) and using the plug to fill the hole in my ankle bone, repairing the cartilage, and cleaning up the scar tissue. The success rate is about 80% in this situation.

While that all sounds scary, seeing the MRI finally allowed me to have some mental relief on the ankle sprain that just wasn't getting better. Once I heard the options I just wanted to get it done so I could have a great summer of mountain biking. The bummer is that there is a 4-6 week backlog before he can get me in. Then once it's done, 6 weeks with no weight-bearing on my left foot, and another 3-4 months of not being a dumbass and reinjurying it.

But to make the news all shiny, I'm happy to report that my gracious father is going to give me one of the things pictured below. I started riding one like it when I was 5. I guess in the past few years they've had quite a resurgence in popularity from people wanting a piece of their youth. The engine comes off the bike in 10 minutes and I figure I'll use that to tinker on while I'm off my feet. Who knows, maybe this summer I can alternate between riding my bike and it to work.

My little bike growing up was exactly like this one.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T00:01:00.001-07:00

$13,461.53 an hour to run a company in to the ground

2008-11-21T16:25:00.014-07:00

More and more the cries for a bailout from the financial and auto industry seem to be more about preserving a luxurious lifestyle than about saving a company. The humorous (if it wasn't so sad) story in the news this week was about the big 3 automakers travelling to Washington via private jets to beg for $25 billion in taxpayer handouts since they are losing so much money. Luckily Congress finally saw through the crap and called them out on it, asking for a show of hands on who had flown to beg for taxpayer money on commercial airlines, no one raised their hand.

"My fear is you're going to take this money and continue the same stupid decisions you've made for 25 years," said Rep. Michael E. Capuano (D-Mass.),

"There's a delicious irony in seeing private luxury jets flying in to Washington, D.C., and people coming off of them with tin cups in their hands saying that they're going to be trimming down and streamlining their businesses," said Rep. Gary L. Ackerman (D-N.Y.) "

Earlier we had AIG, who less than a week after Congress gave them $85 billion for a bailout, took off on a spa vacation totalling $440,000 of taxpayer money and were in the process of planning another when the plans were shut down amidst public scrutiny. The $440,000 included spent $200,000 for rooms, $150,000 for meals and $23,000 for the spa. Wow! When will the American people say they've had enough? The average CEO salary used to be around 30 times the average worker, today the number is closer to 300 times that of the average worker. 300 times? 300 times the average worker salary to run a company in to the ground and then get a nice severance for shoddy work? Sign me up!

Some facts:

Rick Wagoner of GM flew his companies $36 million jet to DC to beg for taxpayer money because the company just can't make it. According to ABC News, the private jet trip cost the company $22,000 (just for that trip!), while seats on Northwest Airlines flight 2364 from Detroit to Washington were going online for $288 coach and $837 first class.

Alan Mulally of Ford lives in Seattle, but flies to Detroit each week via the company's private jet. That's included as part of his employment, along with his $28 million annual base salary! If one private plane trip from Detroit to DC costs around $22,000, make your own assumptions on what a private plane from Seattle to Detroit at least 52 times a year must cost.

Then again, at $28 million dollars a year, Mulally is making $13,461.53 an hour, $224.35 a minute, $3.73 a second! Spending 30 minutes in security could cause American taxpayers close to $7,000! They need that plane [rolls eyes]... The same guy tried to cut expenses by closing 17 plants and laying off 51,000 employes. Admittedly, laying off 51,000 people saved a lot of money, but look at your own fat self as an easy way to cut expenses... Do CEOs such as this really deserve that base salary and perks on top of it? I could run a company in to the ground and watch it fail for $13,000 an hour plus perks!

How about Carly Fiorana from HP, who after running the company in to the ground, ruining it's innovative strategies, and getting thrown out due to poor performance, was awarded $21 million (2.5 times her base salary) as a severance. While I worked at HP during that time, we went for 2 years without even a cost-of-living raise due to "poor performance of the company". Why do normal workers get thrown out on their ass when they do a shitty job, yet some CEOs get rewarded handsomely? Could it be that the Board of Directors of companies are run by other CEOs who hope to be rewarded they same way when they fail miserably?

The more fundamental problem is that some CEOs salaries and the perks awarded to them are exorbitant to say the least. It's not tough for anyone to see that wasteful spending hurts the companies bottom line. And you don't need an economic major to realize if you are bleeding money as signing bonuses, executive perks, executive salaries, and executive severance packages, that you will have a hard time posting profits.

Perhaps even more disturbing though, is that a study by a University of Michigan professor found the average hourly pay for a Big 3 automaker worker to be $73.20 an hour. For those of you not good at math, based on a 40 work, 52 weeks in a year, that is $152,256 a year, for an assembly line worker! Holy crap! Without seeing the full details of the study, one can't tell if that includes benefits (I suspect it does) or is straight pay, but regardless, that is a lot of money for someone working an assembly line. Luckily Alan Mulally of Ford's salary is only 183 times that of the average yearly pay of his workers.

There should be no bailout, taxpayer money shouldn't have to go to support luxurious lifestyles by CEOs. Let the Big3 fail if they can't clean up their act.

Famous Moab Trails Put at Risk by Drilling Leases

2008-11-20T16:52:00.001-07:00

Famous Moab Trails Put at Risk by Drilling Leases

Action Alert
For Immediate Release
10-12-08

Contact: Mark Eller, IMBA Communications Director
markeller@imba.com
303-545-9011

IMBA urges mountain bikers to help preserve some of Moab's most famous trails. A new Bureau of Land Management (BLM) plan would lease land parcels for oil and gas extraction near iconic trails such as Porcupine Rim, Amasa Back, Barlett Wash and Tusher Canyon, turning sections of trail into heavily used access roads. IMBA respects the need for domestic energy production, but believes Moab is better served by protecting its world-class recreational assets.

If these parcels are leased and put into production, the BLM will be required to provide adequate access in the form of roads capable of accommodating trucks and other large vehicles. Parts of these roads would be located on or near some of Moab's most famous mountain biking trails.

IMBA believes the BLM should balance the need for energy production with the benefits of recreation and tourism. Please tell BLM officials to protect mountain biking and Moab's sustainable recreation economy by withdrawing parcels near Porcupine Rim, Amasa Back, Barlett Wash and Tusher Canyon. The deadline for comments is Dec. 3.

Use the following official protest letter to file your comments. This form must be used for correspondence with the BLM regarding this issue and cannot be emailed. It must be mailed or faxed. The address is attached and the fax number is 801-539-4237. Due to the high volume of faxes received by the BLM on protest deadline days, we encourage you to send you comments well in advance of the deadline.

Remember, too, that IMBA's Legal Advocacy Fund provides vital resources for protecting mountain bike access.

--- November XX, 2009 [BLM MUST RECEIVE PROTEST BY DEC. 3, 2008]

Bureau of Land Management
Utah State Office
PO Box 45155
Salt Lake City, UT 84145-0155 FAX 801.539.4237

Re: December 19, 2008 Lease Parcels: 180, 181,182, 183, 184, 185, 186, 196, 197 200, 217, 218, 219, 221, 222, 223, 224, and 225

Pursuant to 43 C.F.R. 3120.1-3, please accept this letter of protest regarding the proposed lease sale of the above noted parcels. I respectfully request that these parcels be withdrawn from the December 19, 2008 sale, for the following reasons:

I am a resident of ____________, ________. I have been to Moab/am planning to visit Moab, and have specific concerns about BLM's upcoming oil and gas lease sale in Utah.

Moab's Recreation Economy Part A: I understand that the recently released Moab Resource Management Plan (RMP) includes specific reference to the Colorado Riverway Special Recreation Management Area (SRMA) which includes both the Porcupine Rim Trail and the Amasa Back Trail. The existence of this SRMA requires that the following parcels be defered as access to these parcels will violate the Visual Resource Management Objectives set forth in the RMP. Further, the loss of these two trails would greatly reduce my desire to visit Moab. Parcel numbers: 200, 217, 218, 219, 221, and 223

Moab's Recreation Economy Part B: Tusher Canyon and Barlett Wash are both designated Mountain Bike Areas within the BLM Resource Management Plan and are closed to motorized travel except on designated routes. Oil and gas activity in this area will greatly detract from the desirability of these trails. The RMP does not include a site-specific analysis that addresses the impacts of oil and gas development included in these lease sale parcels. The BLM must conduct site-specific analysis before making these areas available for oil and gas leasing. Parcel numbers: 180, 181,182, 183, 184, 185, 186, 196, and 197

Moab Water Quality: I am concerned about the health and safety of both residents and visitors to Moab if drilling is allowed within the Moab Aquifer. The RMP specifically states that there will be no exceptions for oil and gas development within an aquifer. Parcel numbers: 224, 225

Parcels contiguous to Arches National Park: Due to the physical constraints of Moab's unique topography the only access to these parcels would be through Arches National Park. Therefore, I request that these parcels be deferred. Parcel numbers: 217, 218

BLM acknowledges that the potential for oil and gas production is low in these areas, so why allow permanent scars of access roads and development to tarnish the landscape that provide a high quality of life to residents of Grand County and that visitors from around the world come to enjoy? A large portion of the Moab economy will be at risk if these parcels are not deferred. The BLM has discretionary authority to approve or disapprove mineral leasing of public lands. We request that the above listed parcels be withdrawn from the December 19, 2008, lease sale, and that these parcels not be re-offered in future lease sales.

Sincerely,

NAME, ADDRESS, PHONE NUMBER

Ahh, your birthday...

2008-11-19T08:22:00.003-07:00

Ahhh, your birthday, the day when a bunch of anonymous web servers let you know just how thoughtful they are!

Yeti 575 review

2008-11-16T16:51:00.003-07:00

I was lucky enough to try out two great bikes at Adventure Cycling's After the Harvest, Before the Snow out in Fruita a few weeks ago. The first was a 2009 Yeti 575, the second an Intense Spider 29'er.

I feel the need to preface this review by saying that I didn't check tire pressues on the Yeti before I went out and hit the trails. The 575, as I verified with a pump after we were done riding, was set to a whopping 50psi in the tires. This obviously had a dramatic effect on how clunky the bike felt on the everyday stuff. I *really* wish I could do the same trails over again with my normal 40psi in the tires as 10psi is a world of difference.

Even so, this bike performed beautifully. The first thing I noticed when getting on to it, was that it sat quite a bit higher than my Trek Fuel. It felt like sitting in an SUV vs. a sedan. That worried my slightly with the drops and ups of HorseThief Bench where we were heading, my mind equated being way up high with being not so agile, which later I was proven wrong.

To sum it up the bike feels like a marshmallow when you really work it hard. I took one of the sideshooting trails down the road to Mary's loop and took the quick small drop, the landing was so soft and beautiful that I wondered if the drop had gotten smaller over the years.

We then hit Rustler's as a warmup. Overall the 575 climbed very nicely, I was actually amazed at how nimble it was going uphill. My fitness was obviously the limiting factor in climbing, but even so the bike rode nicely. We hit the small techy rock section near the end of Rustler's where my Fuel takes some real wizardry to get up, usually at the expense of bottoming out the rear shock to get you over. I pointed the 575 at it and rode right up and over without hitting the shock limits, impressive by itself, more impressive when realizing the tires were set to 50psi and traction isn't a friend of tires set that high.

We cruised up Mary's and down to HorseThief Bench where we watched Chris attempt to ride down on his rigid singlespeed a few times. We took off on the loop and I started to want my Fuel back, it was like all of the little bumps were shaking me to death, while the big bumps were effortless. No doubt this had something to do with the 50psi in the tires, so I can't complain too much.

The first really big up on Horsethief Bench I've always been able to make it over on my Fuel, it's not easy, but lift the front wheel and adjust your weight so the back comes along. I confidently rode straight at it with the Yeti and pulled up at the moment where I always pull up the front, except I think either the rebound was set slower on this bike or the long travel shock is different, because the front wheel plowed right in to the up. Normally this would be very bad, like go over the handlebars and kiss the rocks bad, except the plush suspension soaked up and took me right over the bump with the rubber side down. The suspension on this bike could make almost anyone in to a techy superhero.

After Horsethief, Marni and I rode with the group for quite awhile on Mary's Loop, then decided to turn around. I was really looking forward to the downhill on this bike, because I knew that's where it would shine and believe me, it did. It was fast, and it felt fast. In the corners it clinged to the line you picked, and if you messed up it was very forgiving.

Overall, I was really surprised by such a long travel bike, I thought it would be a hog going uphill, way off balance through techy sections where you'd think a lower center of gravity is better, and just overall heavy feeling, it was none of that. The only complaint I had was the clunkiness on little bumps and I feel that a product of the high tire pressures. Would I use one for cross country racing? Maybe not, I don't think I need the long travel for that, but then again it did everything pretty well so it's hard to say I wouldn't.

Sometimes I feel really blessed...

2008-11-08T12:46:00.008-07:00

Sometimes when I go out for a ride on my own, I feel really blessed to have such a great group of friends who just love to ride for the sake of riding, from the RideAgainsttheMachine group, to the RAGBRAI VIP'ers, I'm lucky to have found such great people to ride with and call friends.

It's sad, but people seem surprised anymore if they have a flat and you ask them if they need help. Others are startled if you pass them and say hi. I have to wonder if the surge of age groupers in triathlons and Ironmans (using that only as an example), and the quest to compete in something normally way beyond your level, has allowed people to lose sight of how fun it is to simply go out and ride for fun vs constantly worrying about heart rate and personal bests and being faster than anyone they see out there. I saw people today that were alone and just looked like they were in anguish, how can that be fun?

I think I would have given up racing years ago if it wasn't for the great group of friends I ride with and the comraderiere that we have at races. Suffering at races isn't all that fun in the moment, hanging out with everyone and talking about it after is. Chris is probably one of the best riders I know and he is one of the friendliest guys out on the trail, he's just out there because he loves being out there. I struggle to find a picture of Melissa on her bike where she doesn't have a huge smile, that's so sexy. I remember the early days of Chris' DNF redemption and Marni's threats of divorce on tough trails, now she flies down them, just happy to be out there.

Today, rather than nodding, I waved at everyone I saw in the 27 miles I rode, probably half waved back, half of those seemed incredibly happy that anyone waved to them, the ones that didn't wave I squeaked my squeaky toy at... As cyclists we could learn a lesson from motorcycle riders, who seem to have this secret waving code know matter if they are on a crotch rocket or a fatboy. As cyclists we are a minority that a lot of cars really don't enjoy on the road, and we all share a common love of being out there on our bikes.

Some of my favorite pics..

2008-11-07T19:19:00.003-07:00

Thought I would share some of my favorite pics over the years...

Lots o' pics