cycleslips

2011-09-08T10:39:00.000-07:00

Ok sorted that account info all out, maybe... but anyway, here we go, it's that time of year, CX racing is just around the corner, 3 days to be exact to the MFG Cyclocross Cycle U Kick-Off Cross. Well there was some racing earlier... We did this little event at the Suncadia resort in Cle Elum with MFG and Raleigh cycles in July. Placed 2nd in the masters, and a DFL in the singlespeed, but hey it was fun.

2 new bikes to roll on this year, thanks to the ReCycle Shop here in Ellensburg. A not so stock Specialized Crux running 1x10 for the geared races, and an obnoxiously hot pink Crux frame-set built into a SingleSpeed for that little torture fest.

Why both races? Well the short of it is I want to win the Cat 4 masters... and the SS, well i just love single speeding, and I am a glutton for punishment. I know the SS fields are stacked and have elite riders, and I am fully prepared to get lapped, though my goal is to stay on that lead lap, have fun and take as many beer hand-ups as I can. So there it is, watch for updates and pictures, they will come.

woo racing

2011-05-25T09:16:00.000-07:00

Two whole mtb races so far this year, its been a busy schedule outside of biking. Lots of training rides, though, and a duathalon. What was i thinking there? I havent run in years. Seriously run since my junior year of high school, say 22 years. I have done a few runs here and there this year, 2,3,4 miles. So this duathalon comes up and a buddy of mine has a hip injury and can't run. I just take his number on a whim, figuring whats the worst that can happen. 3k run 25k bike 6k run. The first run was ok. The bike rocked, i was fast fast fast. But that last run, ouch. That hurt. My IT bands tightened up on the bike and I was tight and in pain for the whole run. 9+ min/mile pace, snail pace, everyone i passed on the bike passed me.

So have i learned my lesson? I was in Austin TX last week for a conference. We went for a run, 5 miles, felt really good, pretty fast pace. I went for a run on Monday, 6.1 miles, pretty decent pace. And what am i doing now? A duathalon next monday. Stupid is as stupid does. 5k run 16k bike 5k run. Should be a good send off before I spend two weeks in Alaska doing heli work.

What has been seen cannot be unseen

2011-05-09T10:11:00.000-07:00

I am not usually one to get particularly upset about anything or show any emotion, but watching the Giro this morning shook me to the core. I love bike racing. I have re-found my joy and ability in the last year to compete again, and have always loved watching professional racing. The Giro started this weekend, and with it live feeds that mean logging on at 6am or so with a hot cup of coffee to watch the excitement, the tactics, and the sheer spectacle of a grand tour event. We have 3 weeks of this to look forward to. It takes one split second to cast a shadow over the whole thing. The rest of it will be exciting, i know, but this will be there lurking in the background for the rest of the race.

Weylandt Dies In Giro Crash

Giro d’Italia Stage 3: Tragedy | This Just In | Bicycling.com

Weylandt’s death leaves Giro in state of shock

Normally a serious injury or rider death is a little easier to deal with, in years past you heard about it later, the races were delayed, the cameras weren't there.

Today the camera was there. It was brief, but it was there, and it was horrific, and unfortunately live. I truly wish at the moment that I had not seen the shot of them cutting Wouter's helmet away, his face swollen, and what looked to be a pool of blood behind his head. I knew then, and it was just a waiting game to hear the news. And i was still completely crushed when they announced it.

Within a few minutes Wouter Weylandt was a major trending topic on twitter. Cycling is usually never a major trending topic especially in the US. Its sad that it took an event like this to have it be so.

I will have some more light hearted racing posts from my end soon. Have done a few in the last few months and neglected this.

15 or so

2011-02-12T21:21:00.000-08:00

Plus 1100' of elevation. Met up with Mike, Erik, and Jeremy on the Manashtash Ridge top to ride Durr road down to Umptanum creek, back out and up Umptanum road. Managed to have the only mechanical for the second week in a row. Blew out the rear tube with a bang. The rear wheel locked up right before, as i think i sucked a rock up and jammed it. Fast ride down on the CX rig, fun climb out and another quick climb/descent. Need to take a good day off, and let the legs rest. My second participation in this cycling study is Monday. Time for another 40k TT.

Gravel + Cross Bikes + double rainbow = this weekend?

2011-02-10T07:29:00.001-08:00

That was the subject of an email last night. While technically correct, the unicorn exponent was left out.

(Gravel + Cross Bikes + double rainbow)^unicorns = this weekend

This would be the most basic form. You can then account for all kinds of variables, divide by weather, add friends, multiply by breasts or beer or whiskey or what ever else gets you off.

But anyway it sounds like a fabulous plan. The crux has had only one ride in the dirt and a handfull on the trainer, so miles of gravel could lighten the soul. There is however the weather. Just in time for the weekend:

Saturday: A chance of rain. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 46. West wind between 10 and 17 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%

So while it may make riding more interesting, or maybe more mountain bike able, riding will happen. As it will tonight, though confined to a trainer with a group of miscreants that meet twice a week to spin our asses off and drink beer after.

I will run tomorrow, as sick as that sounds.

The whole thing though is canceled out by clowns - those fuckers ruin everything.

Firmware Installs, Yay

2011-02-08T08:55:00.000-08:00

Sitting at the desk with a list of remote stations, slowly picking them off one by one as they are up. Depending on the comms it takes about 2 min to upload the new file. Then 400 seconds to install, then 3 min to reboot, and 1 minute to file a maintenance report. Upgrade. Repeat. Upgrade. Repeat. Fit some other work in along the side to fill in the gaps. Let my legs recover, so i can spin em out again tonight

Super Bowl Weekend

2011-02-07T11:03:00.000-08:00

I will have to admit, I was part of a pool for the game. Really had no interest in watching it though. We got unseasonably warm a few weeks ago and all the snow melted. This weekend was supposed to be mild, and low wind. Friday saw 30-40mph winds with gusts that made the house creak and groan. Saturday was calmer, not as calm as predicted but not unridable. 3 of us set out to climb to the FS boundary up towards Lions Rock. Normally not reachable this time of year. It was about 42 F out with 15mph winds. Doing this ride early in the season was amazing. The climb felt good, topping out at 3900'. The descent back down and into town was fast and chilly with the wind at our backs. 32 miles in all, 2400' of climbing, most of that between 10 and 16 miles. Retreated to a beer in a hot shower to recover.

Sunday morning was rainy and cold. After it settled into a mist i knocked out a damp 3 mi run. A hot shower and laundry day ensued. The super bowl was on but i didn't really watch, and didn't really care. Had some lunch, cracked a beer and proceeded to clean up my work bench and work on bikes. All and all a good productive couple of days.

Ummmmm

2010-08-10T11:39:00.000-07:00

Lets resurect this thing, should we? Think i can keep up with it and spew stuff out.

First off i am riding again, the most I have in years, since moving back here from Los Angeles. Got into a winter spin class to get the fitness up, and purchased my first real road bike. Hell i even did 2 early season SS rides on the Curtlo, thought nothing too steep or techy. But anyway, lots of road miles Tues and Thurs evening rides with the Shop group, and a good weekend ride, sometimes long pavement, sometimes hours of dirt, usually on the 1x9 set up. Anyway, lets see where it goes for now and what happens with it. Keep riding people.

cruisin

2008-01-31T09:09:00.000-08:00

Did some more cruising on the planks yesterday. A co-worker, her friend's dog and myself laid down 7.5k right before work. t'was a nice workout. My legs were a bit sore. The tracks were a little icy, but would get noticeably better the farther we got from town on the rail trail.

Last weekend, we did some AIARE level 1 avalanche training. Work involves some back country travel to get to remote sites during the winter, weather it be by ski, snowshoe, or snowmobile. It was a really good course. We learned a lot, had a good time outside, etc. Time to go rock the back country.... safely.

More Skis

2008-01-12T19:43:00.000-08:00

I really should start taking my camera with me. I was sweattin pretty good. I did 8.3km today. It felt good. The sun was out for a little bit, and that was nice as well. Good to see it this time of year. I think I only fell down once.

Drawings

2007-12-21T10:38:00.000-08:00

So a couple of weeks ago I talked with Doug at Curtlo about some geometry issues with my new ride, and sorted out some stuff. A little waiting, and a week long trip to San Fran (for business) later I get something that I have been patiently waiting for. There was a reason that I wanted to go through a build process during the winter... I can't really ride right now anyway. I am really pretty excited, Doug asked me what I thought of the bent top tube. I was not sure until I opened it to have a look. I mostly like classic lines but it is not a large bend, and I am digging the extra stand over. Just waiting for a response on some numbers, and it should all be good to go.

Frame Update

2007-12-16T19:06:00.000-08:00

Talked with Doug the other day (actually it was more like a week and a half ago, I was just out of town) to work out some geometry issues on my new frame. Sent him a seat pic and now I am just waiting for the drawings. Yay Bikes! He apparently needed this photo. I am so glad my bike was clean.

2007-11-11T11:04:00.000-08:00

Probably the last trail ride of the season around the burg. It was muddy, real muddy. It had been dry around the valley for a while, but a few weeks earlier it had snowed at elevation, and some of it was still sticking around. Most of it had melted and thus the mud. Mud like chunky peanut butter. Or axle grease with rocks in it. It stuck to every thing, the bikes gained about 10lbs right off the bat. There was some nice areas with lots of pine needles, and some places where the mud was frozen. This pick does not do it justice.

At one point we were on a good fast twisty descent. It was nice and fast, then we hit a meadow section again... greasy mud. The last thing I wanted to do was hit the brakes, cause I would go down. Instead I hit a rut and went down, hard. Right leg between the top tube and handlebars. I landed on the handle bar. Instant charlie horse, could not move my leg. Big goose egg on the side of my leg. Got up and kept riding, could not climb, exited to the fire road to finish the ride. I knew it would be bad, but the pic does not do it justice. This one was two days later. It is even worse now. Nice walking with a limp for a few days.

More of the Choppa

2007-10-20T15:45:00.000-07:00

Here are some more pics of that chopper bike. Serious wheel flop when turning, but really kinda fun. My knees come up in front of the handle bars. I have the holes plugged in the top of the fork now as well.

and one cool one looking down the fork

frankenbikes

2007-10-19T09:34:00.000-07:00

So we have had an old 24" wheeled mtb lying around, and a bunch of extra parts. I got to thinking, and that is kinda dangerous, but this is what started to happen. We stripped gears, etc, making it very simple. I then realized that I had this old Manitou fork that was shot. So I ordered these...

I then gutted the internals of the fork, and bingo.....

sumation

2007-09-13T09:26:00.000-07:00

I think this picture sums things up nicely.

Poo and Port Gamble

2007-09-02T17:54:00.000-07:00

Did a short quick 14 miles on some trails near my parents house that I have not been on in about 6 years. There were several horses out on the trail, all very nice people with them. There was also a lot of poo. I was able to do a bunch of small loops and see a lot of stuff. Fun.

New Ride!... kinda

2007-08-20T14:16:00.000-07:00

I sent in the deposit and fit sheet for a new frame. Curtlo 24 hr 29er, with sliding drops, to run geared or single. Now I get to wait. That is ok with me, cause we are going to be super busy, and then winter is coming. This will be my first custom ride. Should be fun.

Kachess Ridge

2007-08-14T13:08:00.001-07:00

Went and did a nice little ride that I had wanted to do for a while with a couple of other guys. It turned out to be close to 19 miles, took us about 5 hours with a good lunch break, and a little exploring.

Kachess Ridge lines the east side of Lake Kachess, just north of the town of Easton, about 40 miles from Ellensburg. We parked along the FS road that goes along the east side, and proceeded to ride about 6 uneventful flat miles along the lake.... then we went up. The next 4.5 miles of FS road head right up the ridge.... for 2500 feet of elevation gain. there is not a whole lot of relief in there, a few small flats, and that is about it. I was riding my old bike as a 1X8 and wishing i had a granny like the other 2 guys, but I toughed it out. We stopped for lunch with another group of riders (I fixed a busted chain link) then tried to find the single track.

The trail passes close to the road, but never intersects it. This route has been done enough though, that people have cut a connector (very steep and loose) to the trail. We got there, rode a little ways, and then started walking for about .25 mi to the pass, since the trail was not ridable there.

From the pass, it was fast fast fast single track, along the Silver Creek drainage. It was bliss, and seemed to go on forever. In the trees it was a bit rooty, but not too bad, and still grippy. I was amazed at all the blow downs in there. The last 1.5 miles of trail drop suddenly in some really steep, loose, rocky switchbacks. Before I knew it we were dumped back out on a FS connector road, and it was over. Definitely a keeper of a ride.

rode

2007-05-29T19:41:00.000-07:00

Got a little dirt time in today. Just a short loop, 3 miles of logging road climbing, and a loose bombing single track descent of the same distance. Not to bad considering I have not been on the bike much. You always forget something... today that was the camera. Oh well. I got a little road time in too, but it was so damn windy this weekend. Nice today. I will out there again next weekend.

cork and hemp

2007-01-28T19:34:00.000-08:00

I like bar tape, cork tape, and if done right, it can be just as comfy as a regular grip, IMHO. Plus it looks cool. For all of the coolnes of cork bar rap, I don't much care for the tape for holding down the end of it. Just does not look right, I think. A few years ago, I took to finishing the tape with hemp twine. makes a perfect finish I think.

I did a good legs back workout at the gym yesterday. Still feeling it a little bit. Chest/arms tomorrow. Then out in the field for a few days.

Press

2007-01-19T14:08:00.000-08:00

So, I did another round on the trainer....12 miles worth of fixed gear fun. One thing I forgot about, is that with this much time off the bike, your ass can get real sore, after the first few rides. Fun stuff, ass burger, or tenderized ass, or what ever you want to call it. Better after the second ride, but I had to give it several days. I really don't seem to mind the trainer that much. Maybe it is because everything has been so bleak here for so long. There is only so much sub 20's snow and freezing fog weather you can take, and it has been like that for a long, long time.

Cool article in the local paper on our office and project. Who'd have thunk that a tiny little town like this would have some interest in us, with all of the 4 people that we have in our office.

Spun

2007-01-15T20:04:00.000-08:00

It has been soooo icy and cold for the last couple of months. I finally did it, and got the CrossCheck on the trainer. Spun for an hour on that, and it felt good. The motivation was looking out the window at the 16 degree temps and all of that icy snow sitting on the ground.
I had the IPod going with a good mix of motivating music (80's Punk, Classic Rock, New Wave, Metal, Alternative (whatever that is), R&B, Rap). Sweat dripping everywhere, and even got out of the saddle about every 5 minutes or so. Legs are feeling real nice at the moment.

Tales From the Punch Bowl

2007-01-08T16:26:00.000-08:00

I think I may spend a few days filling in some details of what happened over the last couple of months. I think I will start this off with some Bike stuff, since that is what was lacking in my life anyways.....

It all started around the end of October, I needed a vacation. As luck would have it, the Disciples of Dirt in Eugene, OR, put on a sweet little gathering twice a year on the time change. They name this little gem Barbie Camp. I took a couple of days off on either side of the weekend, packed up camping gear and bike, and headed south to Oregon. The gathering takes place just outside of Sisters, but the first ride would be a ways south at Waldo lake. This meant leaving at 3:30 AM to make an 11:00 ride time.

The riding was great. It felt good to be back on the bike again.... until about halfway around the lake. My legs started to cramp and go away from me. I struggled for about 9 miles, before they came back to me. The last couple of miles felt good again. It was great to see some old friends from Southern California.

Work is .....

2007-01-07T18:57:00.000-08:00

Well busy, too busy some times, but good. That last post waaaayyyy back was followed by some install work, 2 weeks of continuous work, on Mt. St. Helens. Good weather, great helo pilot, and a great crew, allowed us to get a bunch of new instrumentation on the Mt.

We followed with just a bunch of work the next couple of months, some time off for myself, and a big meeting in San Fran.

And guess what?? Almost no riding.

Back to this week though, I did get in 4 miles of snowshoing, for work even. It was good, my legs were tired. Now I am working on getting the bike back on the trainer. Gotta start melting some of this roll off of me. I gots some goals that I may discuss as I get closer to them.

OMFG, WTF, ummm what was I doing

2006-09-13T20:15:00.000-07:00

Yeah it it's been that busy. Getting ready for a massive round of installations on Mount St. Helens. 9 stations weather, and fire restrictions permitting. It has been a zoo around work, and just a little bit of stress. I am going to take the cross bike in hopes of getting a ride or two in in the 3 weeks that we are going to be living out there. Woooo!

More wheels turning

2006-08-12T22:49:00.000-07:00

Is a good thing. Got a quick 20 miles in this morning with a friend. The winds were down and it felt good. I can feel myself working this riding thing back in. The 42x16 fixed feels really good on the valley floor.

Whoa.... damn

2006-07-29T20:17:00.000-07:00

Another long break, life has been busy, real busy. I spent most of June in AK on Kodiak Island helping our office there doing some installs. Remote areas, as in Akhiok, Old Harbor, oh and Sitkinak Island... a small island off the SW of Kodiak. Inhabitants: 2 ranchers for part of the year, abandoned Coast Guard station... Camping.

In Akhiok we had a small bear problem. 1am we get a call to turn on the lights because of a bear in the village. A short time later, several gunshots. In the AM, dead juvinile brown bear, freshly skinned by the locals. It tried our house, and got into another. The day before we had muddy paw prints under the window. Good times.

All that led to a bunch of new GPS installs in our area, 5 this month. Finished the last one yesterday. I have had no time to ride, other than to work a couple of times. I am just trying to enjoy the weekend at the moment, for once, since I have been working those here and there also.

what ever, I do love what I do, I will find something riding wise to talk about, I promise

out

Another Puzzle Piece

2006-02-21T08:38:00.000-08:00

The cranks in all of their black glory. 180mm Profile CroMo cranks, paired with a black Profile Imperial bmx chainwheel. I think they may need a gold chain wrapped around them. We shall see....

I paired them with an X-Drive 48 tooth splined BB from FSA. The whole setup aint light, but it did not feel as heavy as I thought it would.

I think I am going to do the frame/fork next, but not entirely sure. Not much left to get.

More Mountain

2006-02-20T17:03:00.000-08:00

So I have been up there again. Station maintenance. The skies were clear, but the pictures do not do the wind any justice. I was almost blown off the snowmobile. Anyway, the mountain was venting a bit on the side, but it is not visable in the pictures. I thought they looked good in black and white...

This one is taken from the station:

This one is from the trip down. I added a bit of grain to it and like the effect:

another pic....

2006-02-08T09:13:00.000-08:00

ho-hum, just me getting softer, and collecting more parts for a new ride. That's all. Seems like I have been gone most of the last month. I have in fact, and will continue to do so more than likely. Things should start to get busy here at work. But work = $, which in turn = parts. So work is good for getting stuff that I currently have no time to use. Fun. Actually work is fun. You don't get to do this stuff in many other jobs that I know of.

Here is a pic for the hell of it...

2raceornot2race

2006-01-27T15:48:00.000-08:00

indieseries.com

Now I am pretty sure that at this point I am very soft and slow, but the series begins in a month, I can do that, right? The point is that I told myself that I was going to do this series last year, and I should do it. It is all about being cold and wet and miserable to begin with, and then just miserable later in the year. I think the cross check is up to the first few races, and if I ever get the inbred done, I could finish out the season on it, right? Please someone agree with this, and tell me I am just not sick in the head for wanting to do this.

The List

2006-01-16T18:40:00.000-08:00

So I thought I would go over what is going to be on the new bike. A list of sorts.

The frame is going to be an On-One Inbred 29er, I think, 80% sure at this moment, fork is undecided.

bars - On-One Mary
stem - Thompson
headset - King
seatpost - Thompson
saddle - TBD
cranks - Profile 180mm
chainwheel - Profile Imperial, black 34T
bottom bracket - FSA 48T splined
pedals - Crank Bros Candy
brakes - Avid BB7 disks
levers - Avid or maybe I'll spring for Pauls
wheels - Paul Disks laced to Salsa Delgado Cross rims with DT spokes/nipples
freewheel - White Industries 21T

I got most of it at this point. Should be a treat come spring time.

pppffffffffffftttt.........

2006-01-13T19:56:00.000-08:00

Yup, pretty much. Mary Thomson is sitting in a box in my office. I on the otherhand am sitting in a hotel in Oregon. Does anyone see the problem??? It's probably a good thing since I would just want to put them on the bike I don't have yet.

I present to you.... Hollywood
I think he is here also

Back to this hotel thing, I don't really mind it that much. The rain makes it even more fun. Especially when you are drilling in saturated ground

We had a site that was giving us a bit of trouble. We went there a couple of days ago and guess what there was a bug in the system. Wasn't the problem, but definetly a bug.

Just go away already

2006-01-07T09:01:00.000-08:00

I have this thing about being sick.... I don't like it. It does not seem to happen very often, but it seems that when it does, it does it right. At least the fever part was only a couple of days last weekend, but come on, this cough and mucous is getting old already. I wouldn't mind going out on my bike for a bit or something like that. I just hope it is better by Tuesday, or I am going to be standing in the rain in NW Oregon for 4 days like this.... Fun.

Miss Mary Thomson

2006-01-02T08:40:00.000-08:00

The long and drawn-out quest to build a new bike continues with a few more parts added to the pile. I needed to do a little bit of birthday shopping anyway. I have settled on some nice little bits to prop me up and keep me on the straight and narrow, or curvy and narrow as the trail may be. Anyway got some OnOne Mary bars. A little bit-o-rise, a whole lotta sweep, and a nice comfy hand position. I have tooled around on a couple of sets, and I am tempted to get another set for the cross bike, and run them upside down. To bond this little lady to the bike(sometimes bondage is good), I gots a Thomson Elite stem. And finally I figured that I should probably prop my self up proper like with one of his brothers, so a Thomson Elite seatpost will be out back.

It will probably kill me to have some of these parts laying around while I get the rest of it, but I will continue to enjoy the wheels.

Work of Art

2005-12-21T16:04:00.000-08:00

So I have been trying to take scenic and arty pictures while on job sites at work. I may as well share them with people. This shot was taken while installing a site in sub freezing temps and freezing fog. It was maybe all of 12 degrees out when I shot this. The ground was frozen, and shattered when struck with a pick axe. We broke the blade off the pick axe. It was fun. Back to the picture though. Freezing fog can result in some really beautiful effects on the surrounding landscape and vegetation. I think it is generally the thing people are shooting for with that spray on crap on christmas trees. This is much more picturesque.

Inbreeding....

2005-12-20T19:39:00.000-08:00

thinkin that's what I'ma gonna do. See, cause I got these real purdy wheels that I just built, and even though they are great on the CrossCheck, that is not what they were built for. I will probably order one from the guys at WebCyclery. What will become of stumpy? She will probably get ridden by minion a bit, and by me some and used as a loaner, etc.

In a hotel again....

2005-12-14T18:41:00.000-08:00

Yup, in the ol' Best Western in the middle of Oregon. The temp is in the teens, and should soon be in the single digits.... Wooo Hooo, happy birthday to me!!! Got me a sandwich, some beer and some work to do. What fun.

Smoov like buttah

2005-12-03T15:55:00.000-08:00

Just got a 21 tooth White Industries Eno Freewheel for the Pauls wheelset. Smooth like butter, with a nice buzz.

The Mountain

2005-11-23T16:18:00.000-08:00

Last week found us up on Mt. St. Helens to do some more work on the radio network there. Two of the sites required a bit of snowmobile work and some snowshoeing to get to. The weather was outstanding, and the views were rewarding. Oh and we worked some too.

I lost my mojo...

2005-11-14T19:26:00.000-08:00

Allergies.... and that meant one thing, the dog had to go. I have had no trouble with the cats, but little (not) mojitsu was an allergie machine. Everytime I would come home and sit with him, it would all go to hell. He is in a good place, the friends that we got him from had to find a new home for his mother, so they were willing to take him back. He is living with his dad, and playing on the farm, killing mice and eating cow poo. It is all good, and for the best.

I was out around Mt. St. Helens last week to fix some comms issues at some of the sites on the volcano. I will be there again for most of this week, as well. Hopefully we can get some snowmobiles, otherwise we will be hoofing it on snowshoes.

LiveWrong???

2005-10-17T16:38:00.000-07:00

Yes LiveWrong. The wristband had to go on the hub. I got the front wheel built after waiting for a bit for it. It was on backorder. Big ups to MeanTodd and Webcyclery for the parts and service, they rock. Paul Disk Fhub, Salsa Delgado Cross rim, DT champion spokes and brass nipples. Now I gotta get it on the CrossCheck. They should get well used at Barbie Camp in 2 weeks.....

more later.

2005-10-17T16:37:00.000-07:00

the Fhub/Delgado cross wheel to match the rear that I build 2 weeks ago

doing my part

2005-10-10T20:59:00.000-07:00

I went to Dan's services this afternoon. It was good, a nice celebration of his life. Many memories, and other faces that I have not seen, but it was good. The hard part was afterwards. We departed to go and finish the job that they were on when they were killed. That meant driving the same route. I stopped at the place that the accident happened. What a mess. The highway had been closed for 8.5 hours They never had a chance. Tomorrow morning we go to pick up the first of the equipment, and then back to Tony's services.

Just remember Dan's words.... Have Fun

For Dan and Tony

2005-10-09T20:46:00.000-07:00

There are memorial services this week for Dan and Tony. Dan's is tomorrow and Tony's is tuesday. In between I am going to go to pick up the equipment that they were after, when their accident happened.

that's all for now

Not sure where to start

2005-10-05T09:08:00.000-07:00

The GPS community suffered a great loss yesterday. I knew both of them, and Dan was a good friend, whom I learned a great deal from while I was in school. They were out to pick up some GPS equipment that had been running. I feel horrible for their families. I have been on that particular stretch of highway several times in the last 5 months, and know how many logging trucks travel it. I don't know what else to say.

What does this button do???

2005-10-04T10:09:00.000-07:00

Wow it has been a very long time since I have been on a bike. 6 weeks since I broke my hand, and even longer (12 maybe) since I really went on a ride. It felt weird to say the least. My legs started to burn pretty early, and it was cold out. The handle bar felt a bit foriegn at first in my right hand. It was not entirely sure what to do about the pressure. After a few seconds though it felt fine. I do not know if it was the bliss of being back on two wheels or the fact that my hand really was fine on the road, but hey, I'll take it.

The new rear wheelio rolled great. The Paul WORD disk hub was smooth. The wheel was silent and felt responisive. The old 36 spoke wheel that was on there felt noodly in retrospect. I like the look of the combination of the black hub, black spokes, nipples and black Salsa Delgado Cross rims. I am waiting to do the front, but maybe this weekend.... waiting for the hub...

first roll

2005-10-02T08:11:00.000-07:00

well, I got it trued up, tensioned and rolled around the block on it last night. Threw a cheapo freewheel on it mounted it up with a 700x44 Mutano tire and proceeded to accel lean and throw it around. Felt good, no noise, I was happy...happy as monkey on a banana boat. Now I gots to do the front and set up a cog to bolt to the disk mount for running fixed.

Hey and I posted again!

On to other things... Interbike was last week. No I did not go, but some strange and funny shit always goes down..... real funny.
Leave it to HW to pull something like that.

It felt good to roll around on the bike, even for a little bit. My hand did not hurt, though not sure what some rough stuff would feel like.

FOO

Oh yeah and a morning is not complete without some D&M Coffee

wheelieos

2005-09-30T21:41:00.000-07:00

I built my first wheel! soon to be set.... black Paul disk hubs, black Salsa Delgado Cross Rims, black DT spokes and nipples. Can't wait to ride it.

sweet

2005-09-30T21:40:00.001-07:00

The whole wheel

2005-09-30T21:40:00.000-07:00

Hub detail

Post pile

2005-09-28T08:25:00.000-07:00

I resolved to make an effort to post more often the last time I did this. Well I broke my hand, and now 6 weeks later I am making that same resolution. We shall see. I am going to ride this weekend, and see how mr. righty holds up. I need miles, Barbie Camp is at the end of the month and I am sooo out of shape. boo hoo, sob.

Doggone, Busted and 29 inches??

2005-08-24T14:17:00.000-07:00

So I had no idea how much of a dog house I would be in, but here we go... Mojo, black lab puppy for me for our anneversary. Who knew. Think he is going to make a great field dog, and trail dog. I am now busted, not because I missed the anneversary, but because I had a fight with a power drill. Flat busted my hand. Broken 3rd metacarpal. Going to be doing a lot of recon work and even less riding than I have been doing. Oh well, gives me time to shop for a 29er... looking at the new Kona Unit 2-9 still need more details

Dogg Howse

2005-08-07T21:32:00.000-07:00

What to do, what to do. We start many days of drilling with 3 sites in a row in southern Oregon. And that means what you may ask???? It means that I am in the doghouse for the 6th time in 13 years (lucky number huh?). I will be missing yet another anniversary. Woo Hoo... Go me!!! I suck. I am still batting over .500 though. There was a time that I was well under. The good thing is that starting next year we will both be able to take vacation when it roles around. I will have to pull off something big then.

Look I made a new post

2005-05-29T19:03:00.000-07:00

So I actually drug my fat arse out on the bike and trails. Did some scorching. What's that you say? Go see 63xc.com and figger it out. It was fun, It hurt. Did I mention it hurt? I will put up some nice pictures later.

Stupid is as stupid does

2005-04-19T14:34:00.000-07:00

Duh, I am awake. what was originally posted here was put up before. So I took the liberty of removing it.

I am so smart
I am so smart
S-M-R-T...
I mean S-M-A-R-T
-Homer Simpson-

I still say it is too nice outside.

Gotta finish something for Feilix-da-housecat. Will post pictures of it after his birthday.

itty bitty

2005-04-17T19:54:00.000-07:00

Just a short one... spent the day working on the car, fun. New heater core, and pulled I don't know how many miles of old stereo and alarm wiring from out of the dash and such.

go see some Engrish

I did have a poem published recently. I saw it last week, issue 113 of DirtRag. I have page 56 with a graphic to go along with the poem, and a short bio at the front. They sent me a bunch of extra copies, a pile of stickers and check for $35. One of the stickers "Ride a Fucking Bike" is now adorning the CrossCheck on the right side of the top tube.

Allergy season sucks

etard...

2005-04-14T20:51:00.000-07:00

man am I stupid... firewall settings not letting me upload stuff, duh. So I got the pictures up. The whole thing kinda goes like this:

We went to Klamath Falls, and put in a site. Short drill, so we do it ourselves, exposed bedrock all that. We get there, and promptly get the truck stuck. Oh, and I got the truck stuck there in the same place almost 6 weeks earlier. So on with the pictures:

Workin, workin

Got Drill??

2 days later, it is running, kinda.

Then we came back and worked some more on three more, and it was wet some of the days.

Playin in the mud

A much clearer day

One of the finished 3

I'm out

Small thing

2005-04-13T19:01:00.000-07:00

I have some pics from all of this work, but I am having some issues. Needless to say they will have to wait. We worked, hard. First at Klamath, then back for a couple of days, and then out again for 6 days straight, installing 3 sites with a drill crew.

Anyway. Felix-da-housecat made his majors baseball team. He is the smallest kid, go figure, and they all have food nicknames... his is Atkins.

Second, check out my cousin's artwork and web page. She is super-talented and only a junior in highschool...

oleandervyce.tk

'nuff said... I'll work on those pics

Update, Shmupdate, Whatever

2005-03-31T21:48:00.000-08:00

So I am out of town, working... Good ol' Klamath Falls, OR. Installing a GPS station at the Oregon Institute of Technology. Day one, yesterday, we got stuck in the mud, or well high centered. The kind folks at OIT pulled us out w/ a back hoe. This is the second time in 6 weeks that this has happened to me at this same place. The only plus is that I was not driving the truck. We have been 5-600 feet accross a muddy field from where we are supposed to be working, which means we have to carry stuff. Two days of the hauling and the drilling and the bitching and oops, I am doing that now. I am tired, whiped out, flat bushed. AAANNNDDD, starting on Monday, we get to do 3 in a row! 9 straight days of fun, and it will probably rain. I love my job, some pictures later.

Shakin'...

2005-03-28T15:43:00.000-08:00

Talk about getting kicked when you are down. Another earthquake in Sumatra. An 8.7... a great earthquake, and just a week and a half ago the scientists were warning of more possible earthquakes in the next few months to years. Clustering, it is fun stuff. Got a big fault? Got high convergence rates? Haven't had an earthquake in a very long time? Well you start with a big one on one part of the fault, and it jacks up the stresses on other parts of the fault, making them more likely to go off sooner than later. They did dodge a bullet with no real tsunami though. You never can tell. Mother Nature, she keeps you on your toes.

Get Ur Done....

2005-03-23T20:13:00.000-08:00

Umm... O.K. Toto, we are not in L.A. any more. Granted I lived here before, but this shit is just to funny. Now if you have seen Larry the cable guy you will understand. This should just about sum up the region I live in.

Yup, the booming metropolis that is Coulee City, or the location of the Grand Coulee Dam. Was there working at the dam to establish a GPS site. It is a most impressive structure if you ever get to see it.

More things you see on a rural commute

2005-03-22T21:49:00.000-08:00

poor thing, and I ran his dead ass over to get the shot framed in the shadow of the wheel.
There in the middle of the road balanced on the fixie, shooting pictures of roadkill.

Steel grey

2005-03-20T16:45:00.000-08:00

The sky that is. It snowed and rained yesterday. Some showers today + wind and cold have led to no riding for my scrawny little butt. My car crapped out on me with some yet unknown electrical problem. poor poor me... enough tears. Had a good day with the family, a friend came by that we have not seen since we came back from L.A., so all is well. Looks like I will be riding to work all week. Oh and check out Vulture Cycles cause I said so, and their frames are too cool.

Something New....

2005-03-19T13:59:00.000-08:00

Cycle slips.... what is it any way?? Well, I ride bikes... singlespeed, and fixed gear, mountain, CX, road, so it may have something to do with that? No, although it sounds like it fits there and it does in it's own way. It is GPS, and not just those hand held things, we are talking the $8k-$15k geodetic/survey quality equipment, both portable (if you call lugging a 70lb deep cycle battery somewhere portable) to the permanent continuous stations that I build. Cycle slips- A cycle slip can occur when tracking is interrupted due to blockage of the signals, weak signals or incorrect signal processing due to receiver software failure. Or something like that. GPS, Fun. I get to travel, do geology, work with drillers, do some rock drilling, do some welding, electronics, construction, etc.

So that is what it is, GPS and bicycles. I will talk about both, maybe more often about bikes, but who knows what will be here.

I have been blogging at the FooRiders website, run by a friend in sunny (not this year) SoCal. I may still add little bits of stuff there, but I think most of it will be here from now on.