Another Milestone

Gonna Party Like It's Nineteen Seventy Nine
Originally uploaded by donXfive.

This picture just went over the 200-view mark, thought I'd commemorate it. The girl in the photo is bellydancing tonight at Which Brew for "Greek Night." I was there (Which Brew) last night, I'll be there tonight.

Rode last night, rode today at Sals -- I was also part of the garbage cleanup there today, which was a phenomenal success -- and I will be riding at Sals again, plus Lehigh, tomorrow with the Jersey boys. My life is the opposite of suck right now.

Except: my front fork is busted, feels like there is no longer any compression damping. I should be fine for North Carolina, but this has happened before and it's a factory-repair-only problem, two week turnaround, so I may be buying a new fork when I get back. Bike season, the money pit, and so it begins...

Meantime, I posted a bunch of pics from the last two birthday parties, you know where to click. Enjoy!

Ain't She Sweet?

Morning weigh-in: 164#, 9.5% BF

 

I put the Turner back together last night, rode it around the block -- man that thing just feels fast. I love my bike... I'm riding it tonight as a final shakedown, doing the towpath with my friend Stu from Which Brew (his wife told me last night to "kick his ass") then tomorrow I'm taking it over to Sals, doing a group ride after the cleanup. Happy Earth Day!

 

Dinner was leftover root crops (turnips, parsnips, carrots & onions) plus some bread. Did the bike thing, hit the gym, came home & computerized for a bit, then went down to Which Brew. Like I said, I saw Stu & Cathy there, and heard the news (good for them, bad for me) that he just took a new job and they'll be relocating to Tampa soon. Oh well.

 

An Insight: Joking with Doug the other day, I realized that every six months or so I get religion and try to clean the house, and that's when I lose weight.

 

Yet Another Desert Epiphany: This isn't new, and I may have even written about it here before but I was thinking about it on vacation, mainly because I saw Blondie songs being used to sell Febreeze on the TV... I once saw a quote about Blondie, saying that she stole a minor good idea (from Patti Smith), and beat it to death. Now I'm not entirely sure that's true, but it seemed to me like a pretty good way of looking at philosophers: they start with some insight and inflate it into a grand unified theory of everything -- like, the will to power is what makes the world go around, and it also moves the planets in their orbits. Whatever, boys.

 

Riding tonight, riding tomorrow, riding Sunday. Going down to North Carolina next week, and riding some more.

Jugtown 8:02

Morning weigh-in: 163#, 6.5% BF

 

Oh Those Social Anxieties: Was the pot roast moist and tender enough? Was the bathroom clean? Did I have ring around the collar? George never drinks two cups of coffee at home... Fear not, everything was fine, but I sure see how that stuff can be exploited -- I wonder if these things were as big an issue before the Age Of Advertising beat them into our heads.

 

The ride was just me, Doug and Eric R, and we were running late so we did a shortened version of the Hellertown loop, skipping some of the later portions south of Easton. Lori was already there when we got back (I left the door open), and Brian, Rich & Linda were walking up the street, so we just about made it.

 

Meeting was sixteen people packed into my living room, pretty rambunctious (I blame the red meat) until Eric B put his foot down, but after that it went pretty smooth. Same situation as the VMB meeting though: too much detail, too many decisions/debates; not all problems should be solved at the meeting. Still, lotsa stuff got done, mostly events and trailwork reports, and we were finished in an hour. After that is was back to the socializing, and playing with my scale...

 

A word about the body fat percentages, for my newer readers: My scale at home determines percent body fat by measuring electrical impedance: when you stand on the scale you're really standing on two foot-shaped electrodes, which turn your lower body into a circuit; the scale sends an electrical signal through the circuit, and uses the circuit's response, along with your weight (and a few parameters like height etc, that you set when you buy the scale) to calculate your percent body fat. Needless to say, there are a lot of assumptions, extrapolations -- the number is not necessarily accurate, and the manual even said not to take any given day's number as gospel; the trends are the important thing.

 

Even that is not quite true though. I find that if I'm dehydrated for whatever reason (a hard workout, say, or some alcohol consumption the day before), the scale interprets this as a lower percent body fat. Meanwhile, my legs have very little fat on them; most of my body fat is in my belly, just above what I suspect is the path of that electrical signal as it goes up one leg and down the other. As I lose weight (and hopefully it's fat I'm losing), the body fat measurements could possibly fail to note the changes, since they're happening just outside the visibility range of the scale's detection system. Thus, even for trends, the body fat could be either too low or two high on any given day. It's a good rough estimate, but in the end those body fat numbers are just a toy. (Check today's number -- one look in a mirror tells me that that can't be true. Note that I rode yesterday and had a couple of beers with dinner. See what I mean?)

 

Anyway, took the interstate this morning, since I was running a bit late. Smooth sailing, until I caught up to yet another backup on the other side of Jugtown Mountain, but my exit was just before the start of it and I was pretty much on time to work.

 

Tonight I'll put the Turner together, then hit the gym; dinner will be root crops & veggies -- all the meat is gone. Which Brew afterward, catch the reggae band.

 

 

 

 

Got R Done

Morning weigh-in: 164#, 10.5% BF

 

Sometimes I surprise even myself... Do a little bit, define "done" down a little, do a little more, define down a little more, and the next thing you know, you're done! For me last night, I was "done" with the housework around midnight: the pot roasts are in the crock pots and roasting away, the house is fairly clean, except for the two "lost cause" rooms (storage and laundry), and I am ready to just go home from here, hop on the bike & host a group ride, then come home and host a dinner party -- the very picture of domesticity!

 

Dinner last night was at Which Brew, a cheeseburger and a couple of Franziskaners. Fred & Lara, Mike H, Bob, Lou, Dave, a few other patrons scattered about the room, and Kateryna behind the bar. A pleasant interlude between cleaning the living room and food shopping, I needed that to keep my sanity. Bob was talking up Musikfest, he's got some kind of VIP membership and an extra ticket to Jethro Tull, so guess who's seeing Jethro Tull on August 7th -- sweet! He also had the date (Oct 12, plan ahead) for the bus trip to McSorley's.

 

Food shop, home, food prep, then the final and most cursory room cleaning: the bedroom.

Rejuvenated

Morning weigh-in: 164#, 9.5% BF (attention K-Mart shoppers, the pig has left the python)

 

I'm feeling much more peppy today, thank you very much. Got up this morning, did my run and felt perfectly fine. As I might have hinted the other day, I think my problem is mostly nutritional wisdom (or lack thereof): improper eating is probably the root cause of last week's crash. I'm on it.

 

Meanwhile, the taxes are done, as I may have also mentioned earlier, and the house cleaning is coming along, maybe just a little behind schedule. (The Chain Gang meeting is at my place tomorrow, and I am cooking two pot roasts which I have to buy and prep tonight, besides finishing the cleaning.) The place will be OK, but more "guy clean" than "fit for female evaluation and judgement." Well, they're all bikers, they're tough, they'll survive...

 

I should also get my Turner back tomorrow night, Rich is bringing it to the meeting. I'll put it together Thursday night and ride it Friday, a milk run on the towpath, and I should be up for Saturday's big Earth Day celebration at Sals.

 

From Red Rain To Sister Bluebird: My musical tastes have been unstable lately, bouncing around from Gang of Four to the Modern Lovers, to Joni Mitchell, to Peter Gabriel's "Red Rain" this morning, a song that always reminds me of On The Beach. Probably reflecting the weather's instability as it ratchets its way into full springtime.

 

There's an old joke, the cop's prayer: "Please God, not on my shift," and I think the same thing every February or so, waiting for spring and hoping this isn't the year it fails. Well, I've already heard peepers and seen the bugs return, and this morning the birdsong formed a total cacophony as I ran. My early-spring song is Yes's "Starship Trooper," and I make a point of listening to it when the leaves are new and the sky is a deep and cloudless blue. Tonight.

Back Into The Rapids

Morning weigh-in: 165.5#, 10% BF

 

Back at work. Back down to 165 pounds. Same old same old...

 

Friday night I went to the Funhouse to see Run Run Run. Met Doug & Lori plus Eric & Kris at the Mexican place next door; we walked out the door and knew we weren't late because there was the band coming up the street... Good show, lotsa fun, saw the usual Funhouse suspects, and also Frank P, whose birthday, as it happens, is on the same day as mine.

 

Saturday was early morning yoga, then a bunch of chores and errands. I also hit Eskandalo for my monthly haircut, where I talked about the show with the owner -- she was one of those "usual suspects" at the show, and has connections with the band. A little BS, gossip, yadda yadda and she cleaned me up real good as per usual.

 

Next stop was Doug & Lori's surprise 40th birthday party, which was lovely. Actually it was more than just lovely, it was a solid blowout. The party was at Carmine's -- I guess that's the place to go for surprise birthdays anymore -- where Doug's mom (hi Toni!) & dad set up a serious spread in the back room, including all sorts of Italian food and a couple of kegs.

(Quote of the night: "You're not on a diet tonight, Don!" Well it's true I wasn't, I chowed down, but that was the occasion for my first good nutritional choice: my first beer went right to my head, so after one or two more I spent the rest of the evening drinking water. Doug's neighbor Brian had a breathalyzer, and I actually blew a 0.00 before I left.)

There were a ton of people there, many of them bikers, the Chain Gang and VMB crowds; I'd guess there were about 50 people total, including Doug's & Lori's families, and of course their non-bike friends. It was almost a small wedding in size. (My gift: dinner for two at Porter's.) The party started at say 6:30, and D&L arrived for their surprise at 7:00, and things were winding down by 11:00 (I suspect food comas) when I got out of there.

After that I went to Which Brew, which was closed for a private party but I had my invite -- yet another birthday party, bartender Andrea turned 30. That was most likely the last big bash there and people knew it, but it was not very funereal, it was another blowout fueled by more free food -- I couldn't look -- and free beer. I was still feeling under the weather so I got a first beer, nursed it, then drank water for the rest of the night.

(Second time in one night I was chugging water in front of an ocean of free beer. The boys from Porter's were guest-bartending so the ladies could be part of the fun, except for Caitlin who opted to work. She was the one I got my water from -- I didn't want to wuss out in front of the guys. I was drinking it out of my mug, so no one else knew.)

Got home at say 2:00 or so, and the band(s) had stopped playing but the party was still going strong when I left. Yeah I got pictures, both parties.

Sunday you know about, mostly laying around, uploading photos and doing that yoga workshop. Tonight was house cleaning, taxes -- note to self: taxes first, then clean, and you won't have to get new W4 forms because you accidentally threw the originals out last week.

Last two things on my agenda are the Chain Gang meeting here Wednesday, thus the cleaning, and retrieving & reassembling my bike. Things should settle back to normal routine after that, at least until North Carolina.

I Care A-Bout, Noo-Tri-SHUN!!

Morning weigh-in: 167#, 9% BF

It's not an official weigh-in but I had to do it, I was sooooo scared of what I'd see. Well OK, that wasn't that bad a hit... Great weekend, but fraught with many bad nutritional choices (and a couple of surprisingly good ones). More on all that later.

Happy Birthday To Me: Thanks Mom! I got your birthday gifts. For all you out in TV Land, my mom sent me a copy of Complex Population Dynamics, (why, it's a "theoretical/empirical synthesis!") and also Raising Sand, the new CD by Robert Plant and Alison Kraus. Sweet!

Yoga: I took a 3-hour workshop today on "Intention, Breath, and Movement," Max Strom appearing at Easton Yoga. That was a total kick-ass workout, and way fun. I couldn't believe what I was able to do, and what I came away from the class with. I love my teachers and I know that they're actually some of the best around, but this was truly a quantum leap up -- and those instructors were all there too (as well as instructors from other places), so I figure that what happened today will be a strong influence going forward.

Moab Closure: I finally got all my photos posted, and put them (in chronological order) in this flickr set. And now my vacation is truly over! Good thing I got that done, I already have more photos to post from the weekend.

Yet More Vacation Photos

This time they're from Brian again -- you can find his Picasa albums by clicking here. By the way, it was a good thing the both of us took a lot of photos, because the other guys didn't even bother to bring cameras, unless you count Rich's cellphone...

Hanging in tonight, doing some housework and then taking a bit of a nap, since I want to hit the Funhouse later to check out a band with Doug. I'll be posting some more of my own photos tonight at some point too.

Doldrummery

Morning weigh-in: 167#, 7.5% BF (yikes!)

Ran, and also hit the gym last night, and so much for that rest day. (I had to get my driver's license renewed after work, and was done with plenty of time/daylight to spare.) I've been on a tear, multiple days of nonstop activity, and now the inevitable backlash has started: I am exhausted and sluggish, I ate too much last night (gave myself another "birthday party" at Which Brew), ate too much (and all the wrong things) this morning... I did take it easy though, two miles at a very comfortable pace, maybe twenty minutes total followed by an endurance alterna-workout, lighter weights than usual too. Not quite an "active rest" day, easier than usual but not easy enough apparently, and I expect that now I'll be kind of run down at least until Sunday.

 

I ran into two friends this week, Bryan and Lance, father and son. I saw Bryan at Joe's before the ride, he stopped by on his motorcycle (he was dressed head to foot in leather, looked like he was on his way to a Village People tryout or something). We used to ride together quite often, and he was the one I used to go on cycling trips with back in the day. Powerful guy, used to like climbing in the big ring... he's not much older than Rich, but his knees are shot, even surgery he had this winter didn't help, and now he can't ride.

 

His son Lance I saw at Jacobsburg. He was riding, part of that big Wednesday group thing. I knew he'd had some reconstructive surgery in January or so (ankle: ligaments and cartilage, snowboarding mishap), so I asked him about it and he told me he just finished rehab and was cleared for running/walking, riding and just about all other activities. He usually rides a singlespeed, but was on a new geared bike; he told me the reason was that he was missing so much cartilage now, that the doctor cautioned him against the SS -- like he could ride with gears for the rest of his life, or ride the SS for a year...

 

Two years ago I couldn't walk; last year at this time if I ran more than a mile I'd be in agony. Last night I ran two miles at a pace I used to think was fast and called it "rest." Despite everything, I think I was pretty lucky with my ankle.

Back Almost A Week Already

Morning weigh-in: 165.5#, 7.5% BF

 

Wow, a two pound hit -- that's what roast beef and birthday beer will do for you. Then again, after Tuesday's ride my dinner was basically Clif Shot Blocks and a couple of carrots, in other words nothing, so there was more than the usual "suppression weight" to be un-suppressed yesterday.

 

Killer ride last night though. I go there about 5:40, just as the main group was about to pull out so I told them I'd catch up. I got ready, then went chasing with Jay, who was chatting and missed the start; we swept up Greg M who was there independently, and George who waited for us, and finally we reeled in the main group. I was doing OK on the (fully rigid) SS, except some of the bumpier downhills, but I made up for it up on the uphills... Not sure of the mileage but we were out there, riding fast, but casually and with many stops, until about 7:30.

 

Then came the meeting. Very productive, which meant there was a lot of tedious back-and-forth. (John was a workaholic on vacation, sitting in on meetings with his cellphone every morning, but his motivation for staying on top of things was valid: you don't try to solve the problems in these kinds of meeting, just identify them, make sure everyone knows what's going on & assign resources to get the problem solved, and then move on. I think we're going to have to learn that lesson.) Anyway, a lot got done. Meantime, word got out that it was my birthday, so there were a few free beers that came my way, also a ridiculous paper hat.

 

It's supposed to be beautiful out, so I'm going for a lunchtime walk. I won't be able to get out tonight (too many chores/errands), and a rest day is what I need anyway. Two kinds of discipline in the world; I have the one that sends me out riding on rainy winter nights, but I still have trouble sitting still on a nice day...

Appomattox! Party Naked! Buy Me Beer!

Morning weigh-in: 163.5#, 9% BF (woo hoo!)

 

Yup, Happy Birthday To Me -- 45 years young today! It's also the anniversary of Lee's surrender to Grant at Appomattox in 1865, and Bataan's fall to the Japanese in 1942. (It's also Sweetness's birthday -- a Porter's regular, he's maybe 30 years older than me.) I guess the lesson here is that I may not like the aging thing but I can't stop it, so just take your lumps and go with the flow...

 

I feel like I'm a million years old today. Last night's ride was not blazingly fast (fast enough), but it was hard. Me, Joe and Cindy, and Greg, on one of Joe's "hard ride" loops. It started innocently enough, with a tailwind-assisted semi-downhill paceline -- we were doing 25 mph and I was like "why this isn't hard at all!" -- but we eventually started hitting all sorts of hills, and the fast pace did not drop. Well it did drop some, but we were still going up some long, steep hills at say, 12-15 mph, just about "cracking pace" for me, I barely able to hold on. Cindy, who did a morning run that day, peeled off after a while, and then I was left alone with the monsters, who absolutely crushed me... (Luckily they both said it was the toughest ride of the year so far, for either of them, or I would have cried.) Our total distance was like 24 miles, and our average was 16.9 mph, which means the ride lasted about 1:25. That makes sense, since we got back a little before dark. Actually I feel like a million bucks.

 

Tonight I'm riding the singlespeed at Jacobsburg, then going to the VMB meeting at the Christian Springs Hotel. I'll be milking the birthday; I expect to get a free beer out of somebody.

Moab: I Wasn't The Only One With A Camera

John and Don in Aa Huddle
Originally uploaded by tahl007.

Brian in fact brought two: one kind of like mine, and one really good one. Not sure which one he used for these, but he posted a bunch that you can check out here.

Positively Splitsville

Morning weigh-in: 164.5#, 7.5% BF

 

Ran last night, my usual two miles out past the old chemical plant and their next-door neighbor, the reservoir. (Hmmmm....) I started well and got up to a good speed, but after the turnaround I tired and slowed down. My faster friends always recommend what they call "negative splits," by which they mean that the second half of your run should be done a little faster than the first, so your run times for the successive halves will actually drop -- well I had what you might call "positive splits." Did a standard endurance workout in the gym after that, the first in about two weeks and it left me hurting.

 

My Other Desert Epiphany: Riding in Porcupine Rim, I kind of came to the conclusion that (barring a really bad crash) you really have to be an idiot to get yourself killed out there. It does happen, but you hear the stories of what actually did happen such cases, and it's always a tale of idiocy.

 

By the way, I've been posting vacation pictures to my flickr account, I have maybe 100 or so posted so far.

 

Hit Which Brew for dinner -- it was Mug Club Night, and also the first "Metal Monday." (Not sure how rigorous their definition of "metal" might be, but the music did rock.) No one said anything, but one of the girls was totally stressed and depressed, and I took from context clues that her relationship must have tanked. Poor girl, she hasn't always had the best of luck guy-wise, and this one did look like the real deal; I just hope I'm wrong and it was maybe a bad day in some other way. Sheesh, you go away for a week and the world falls apart...

 

 

 

 

Ghost Town

Morning weigh-in: 165.5#, 8% BF

 

Whelp, back to work. Tough wake-up, I'm still used to Moab time. The drive in this morning was quiet, the roads almost empty, as if it were a holiday or something, until I hit a traffic jam about 100 yards from my exit. Several people are out of the office today too, showing some guys from India around NYC before they return home, and the immediate area round my cube is deathly quiet -- ditto around my old office too, not sure why that is though.

 

Tonight is the gym, preceded by a run, and followed by Mug Club Night. Which Brew is open every Monday for the whole of this month I think.

Fun With Epiphanies

Morning weigh-in: 164.5#, 10% BF

I couldn't help it, I had to check the weight, I was worried about the damage I may have done while on vacation. Not bad though.

We got home last night, landing maybe 10:45 PM; I was home by maybe 1:00 AM and in fact made "last call" at Porters -- it truly was late though, and only a few people were there that I knew... Slept in a bit this morning, checked out the Internet, and went downtown for breakfast at the Quadrant, where Violetta's dad had an art exhibit. At 80 years old, and with no prior experience or training, he started painting two years ago, mostly local architecture, and he has like 150 paintings now. It was pretty cool, especially since I ran into Vi (who'd told me to check it out) at Nature's Way, and was able to say that I saw the exhibit if she asked, which she didn't, but I'm back in the Easton groove.

Every morning on vacation I did yoga, a 30 minute routine I got out of a book. There was one pose, involving a bind that I just can't do yet, and every morning I'd do the best I could... Today I took the evening class, and the teacher has us take a card (looked like Tarot cards) from a deck, to use as inspiration for the class. Mine said "Aspire" on it, and had a picture of someone doing that very pose. Well, what do you know!

Reading: By the way, I'm rereading Against the Day. I brought it along on vacation for airport downtime etc, and because so much of the first half of the book involves that part of the country. It's actually a much better read the second time around, not that I was complaining the first time or anything but there's so much going on that I missed a lot that I'm catching this time. I'm on page 352, so I have plenty more to get through.

Things I Realized While Riding In The Desert, Part 1: Maybe it was because of Against the Day, though I felt this way before, but I really came to realize that our civilization (Europe, Asia, Antebellum South or Gulag or outsourced) rests on slavery, and maybe all civilizations.

The Classics

Well, that's it: the last ride was today, the bikes are broken down and packed, and we're getting ready for tomorrow's 6:30 AM departure. The party is over.

We saved the classics for last. Yesterday we did Slickrock, and today we did Porcupine Rim. Slickrock was so tough, even though it was only 11 miles or so, that we were totally spent -- it didn't help that yesterday afternoon was also our shopping trip into town, and what we shopped for was mostly margaritas... We ended the evening at Frankie D's, the Quonset hut bar.

NThis morning was a little rough, we were all moving a bit on the slow side, but we managed to get breakfast down and meet the shuttle with time to spare. We started the ride a little differently, from a few miles up the road and higher up the canyon wall, some new singletrack I'd never seen before, with a few crazy hike-a-bike sections as well. It was beautiful, not a cloud in the sky and the mountains still had a snow cover. The riding was pretty good too... I got a bunch of photos, and even some video of Rich jumping a few drops.

Tonight we'll probably hit the local nightlife, and tomorrow the show is over.

Domesticity

It was supposed to be a rest day -- up to Klondike Bluffs for a snack break, but we also tossed in some new (to me) singletrack, some stuff called Baby Steps. We rode some fun singletrack, got lost where these guys got lost last time, and did some killer stuff that was totally new to all of us before getting back on track. The trail ended at the back end of Arches National Park, and we walked out onto the cliffs, and finally had our picnic. The ride back was essentially downhill and fast, except for a few flat tires, and a stop to look at some dinosaur footprints in the rock. Rocking high speed chase back to the car.

Dinner was steak on the grill, and we're doing laundry now (but laundry night has been every night) while taking turns getting massages -- she makes house calls! I'm done, and I am now pretty damn relaxed.

Tomorrow, if it doesn't rain, will be Slickrock.

Fruita: Grazing On BLM Land

Today we took a day trip to Fruita, Colorado. We got up early and took the drive down, maybe two hours or so, hitting the bike store there about 9:30. Got some stuff, maps etc, and were on the trails by 10:30.

The trails at Fruita are mostly on public grazing land run by the Bureau of Land Management, and are much more singletrack-oriented than here in Moab: buff and twisty with lots of ups and downs, and just the occasional rocky "physical challenge." Lots of cliffs and bluffs, as we rode along the canyons next to the Colorado River. The trails themselves are configured like at Fell Mountain, one big loop with several smaller loops shooting off the main one. Instead of a big single-loop meal, you graze on a bunch of smaller hors douvres.

So that's what we did. We started on Mary's Loop, took a spin on Rustler's Something Something, back on Mary's Loop to the Horse Thief Bench loop, then after some backing and filling we ended up on Steve's Loop aka "Handcuffs." Instead of completing Mary's loop -- the last section is supposedly lame -- we took it as an out-and back, and raced each other along the cliffs and down the hill. Everyone rode well, we were flying and it was an awesome, awesome day. I took about 33 pictures (stay tuned), but Brian brought his good camera and he was the one who got the best shots.

We had an early dinner in Fruita, at the place which used to be a sports bar but is now a really good Mexican restaurant. Too much food, and it was all good. (We also picked up some good beer while we were in Colorado, where there is no Utah-style "max 3.2% abv" restriction. The beer in Utah is tasty, but it really isn't potent so much as bloating.)

So that was today, another 22 fantastic miles. We're just hanging out at the house now, no idea what we're doing tomorrow.

Without A Map: Like Rain In The Desert

The Old Quonset Hut Ain't What It Used To Be: We hit Pasta Jay's last night for dinner, then went to find the old dive we discovered last time, a scary bar in an old Quonset hut. We found it, but things had changed... it was now a "private club" *(I signed up for a three week membership --$4.00) and the beers were a bit better this time, but it was still good. Cheap too.

Hurrah Pass: It poured last night, and it was still a bit drizzly this morning. We were doing a pretty long ride (Hurrah Pass, Jackson Hole, up Jacob's Ladder and down Amasa Back Trail), and there was some spirited debate on whether we should abort, wait, or start the ride in the rain anyway. We started anyway.

Things went smoothly, even without a map, until we got to the top of Hurrah Pass, where we saw storms bearing down on us. We put on our extra clothes, hunkered down under a ledge and ate lunch while the storm blew through. After that the day was beautiful, and we were back to smooth sailing. Until...

We were going through Jackson Hole, and it was all sand. Somehow we missed our turn, but Brian realized we could take the next right. More sand, but we eventually got to the bottom Jacob's Ladder, a hiking trail up the cliff. Forty minutes of carrying our bikes brought us to the top, maybe 200 feet almost straight up. From there it was mostly downhill, down Amasa Back Trail. Plenty of rock, drop-offs and high speed fun, and then (too soon) it was over.

Membership Has Its Privileges: That private club had some awesome food at ridiculously low prices, so that's where we went after the ride. We just came from there, after ribeye sandwiches and hefeweizens, and now we're just hanging out at home.

Tomorrow is Fruita, Colorado.

This Sovereign Cure

Well that was quick! I'm not back, but John brought his laptop, and he's letting me mess around while he hits the showers.

So Far, So Good: Our trip started with dinner at Which Brew Friday night, me Brian, and Doug & Lori who saw us off. (Also saw many other peeps including Jay DeJesus, who gave us some introductions and greetings to convey to the locals out here, and hopefully they'll show us the good new stuff.) Next stop was Brian's house to crash for a while, then came our 3:00 AM rendezvous with Rich, the 6:45 flight, yadda yadda -- we got upgraded to the best seats on the plane, by the way. Picked up the van, hit a few outlets and got lunch, then picked up John at the airport; we were in Moab by 7:30 & retrieved our bikes.

Today's ride was the Sovereign Trail, we got in about 15 miles of riding of which maybe 8were pure singletrack, the rest being mostly (sandy) jeep roads. An awesome day, we were probably out for about 4-5 hours. Pictures won't do it justice, but I took about 50 of them just in case... (Not posting them until I get back, sorry.)

Next up is dinner, not sure where yet but I know it'll be good, and we'll be planning or rides for tomorrow and the rest of the week tonight.