Stacking The Cheddar

Friends

2012-01-22T08:21:00.000-08:00

One of the benefits of having a ridiculously expensive phone that really acts like a computer is the ability to add various applications and other useful tools right at your fingertips. This includes things such as weather radars; weights and measures conversions; streaming music; and super useful time-wasting games. Recently, I began playing a word based game where you compete against one other person. This particular game recently gained some prominence when one Mr. Alec Baldwin was removed from an airplane when he refused to quit playing.

While I’m certainly not the smartest person in the land, I do like to think I have some degree of intelligence. What I’ve been finding though, is the people I’m playing against are infinitely smarter than I am as I’ve been getting housed in every single game. A typical game for me starts with a few big words that gain me a sizable amount of points and usually an early lead. Of course, as the game progresses, I end up running out of ideas and end up using words like “to” or “add” or some other minimal word that gains me very few points. At the same time, my opponent will end up playing some obscure or scientific word that I didn’t know existed. The end result of this exercise is a swift come-from-behind victory for my opponent and me with a slate full of vowels.

I figure I have a few options to correct this situation. First, I could read the dictionary to establish a greater vocabulary, but this might take a significant amount of time. Second, I could stop playing this game, but then I would need to find another activity to waste time. I think my best option however, is to find dumber friends.

Statements of the Day

2012-01-15T19:53:00.000-08:00

Today was cold.

It barely got out of the 20’s.

Fortunately the sun was out so that helped.

I rode Scotia with Jeremy, the Nixtreme, and Seb-dog.

My toes were cold until the end of the ride.

I cleared a big log; with an audience, and it felt amazing.

Winter without snow might not be that bad after all.

Tomorrow I get to sleep in…

Where Are You?

2012-01-08T11:10:00.000-08:00

Finally, after a long hiatus, the ski season has officially opened here in the SC, kind of. We had a few days of cold that allowed the local ski hill to make enough snow to open with limited slopes. By limited slopes, I mean one, but it was still something.

This has been an uncharacteristically warm winter and this weekend was no exception. Ski hills everywhere have been taking a beating as Mother Nature has been stingy on providing piles of the white stuff. In fact, here in the SC we’ve seen a scant dusting at best. It’s been so bad, I’m starting to wonder how much of a ski season there will actually be. On the plus side, this warm weather has allowed me to stay on the bike much longer than I usually would but honestly it feels like winter has mostly passed us by.

Granted, there is still plenty of time for a significant amount of cold to settle in and we could still get crushed by a winter storm or two. Of course, if the warmth continues to hang around I won’t be too upset, but it would be nice to spend a little time on the slopes this year. After all, I did tune my board and I would hate for that fresh wax to go to waste.

Hang on Tight

2012-01-02T07:30:00.000-08:00

If Saturday night marked an end then Sunday morning had to bring along a beginning. We’ve officially turned over a new calendar year and my 2012 has already been highly eventful. To close out 2011 and officially start two aught one two, I managed to drive 1,600 miles in three days, attend a funeral, and experience what it’s like to be in one of the shows about driving in a blizzard. You know the ones where a string of cars are driving real slow with their hazards on and some jag-off rips past them all going way too fast only to end up in a ditch? Yeah, that kind except in this case I was NOT the idiot driver but there were plenty of them in ditches. I’m not sure if this is a sign of things to come but if it is, 2012 is going to be one hell of a ride.

Happy New Year Everyone!

Ho Cubed

2011-12-25T08:58:00.000-08:00

So according to the calendar on the wall, today is Christmas. That’s right, the day when all us good Christians gather for a day filled with prayer and reflection on the year and to celebrate a birthday. For me, that loosely translates to eating and drinking entirely too much over a multi-day period spent with family and friends.

Several years ago my family (read: me) decided that exchanging gifts was more trouble than it’s worth. There are too many people in the family now so the gift exchange portion of the day would just take way too long and trying to coordinate everyone’s schedule is just too daunting. Personally, I prefer it this way because let’s be honest, I have just about everything I need and if I don’t I’ll most likely buy it for myself when I realize that I might actually need it.

As I wait for the rest of the family to arrive at my parents’ house I’ll soak in the remaining bits of quiet while I can. Soon a whirlwind of chaos and mayhem will ensue and the children will turn the living room into a snowstorm of wrapping paper with little effort. It will be good to see everyone and catch up on the past year and who knows, maybe this time when a jolly man dressed as Santa appears at the door unexpectedly, someone in the house will actually know who it is.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Fair Weather Fun

2011-12-18T15:14:00.000-08:00

As many of you know from reading this little distraction, I like to ride bikes. This started during an extended stint in Georgia when there really wasn’t anything else to do. Also, people already looked at me funny since I was from the north so I figured wearing spandex several days a week while hauling down back roads with several other like minded people would really blow their minds. We pretty much only did road rides; flat road rides. The temperatures were never much below fifty and that was in the middle of our winter. We could ride all year long without much to worry about.

After I moved to the SC I continued to ride my road bike but got back into mountain biking. Even though I continued to ride for as much of the year as I could, the riding season was always much shorter for me because the temperatures got much colder and I had no interest in freezing my bits off just to turn over the pedals. Sure, plenty of other people I knew were riding in temperatures that seemed crazy but that’s what they did. I don’t want to say I was soft, but I definitely grew accustomed to the warmer climes.

Over the years, however, I’ve continued to ride later and later into the season. I typically prefer to stay off the road (except the DD) because it’s usually too frigid and wind-blown for my tastes. Instead I choose to get out in the woods, on a bit of single track, where you tend to stay a lot warmer because you’re working more and moving around on the bike a lot more. It gets to the point where you are almost overdressed in little more than a jersey and wind jacket.

What’s the point of telling you all this, you might ask? Well, this weekend I was out riding my mountain bike on both Saturday and Sunday. Jeremy wanted to get the Seb-dog out for some exercise and I decided to tag along. Saturday we rode some of the new trails on the south end of Raystown which were super fun and flowy. Then Sunday we rode some of the Cooper’s Gap stuff in Rothrock. Both days I wore the same thing (literally) and was plenty warm. I’m not sure if this means I’m getting acclimatized to the cold weather or just getting bored with staying inside on the weekends. Either way, I’m feeling less like a fair weather rider.

Tourist Season

2011-12-11T20:04:00.001-08:00

I, like everyone else I know, have the unfortunate need to provide nourishment for myself. It doesn’t really matter what form it takes, in order to survive I have to eat. This leads to one of the activities I don’t really enjoy. I find that every five to eight days I need to go to the grocery store and stock up on the items that my taste buds enjoy.

Before I get too far down the road I should mention that I have a relatively simple diet. I think I get this from my father who ate the same thing for lunch everyday for as long as I can remember. He would head to work in the morning with a turkey and cheese sandwich, corn chips, maybe a piece of fruit, and a pack of Tastykake brand coffee cakes in a brown lunch bag. The point being, I am also predictable (read: boring) and buy the same stuff every time I go to the store (mostly). At this point you may be asking yourself why I deplore this activity when I know exactly what I’m going to get and where it is located. Well, my issue comes more from the fact that I usually feel like the only person in the store who has this figured out.

You see, I get very frustrated by what I like to call the grocery tourists. You know the type, but if you don’t then you might actually be the tourist (possibly you, mom). These are the people who have a list in one hand and are slowly walking around with no care in the world. They leave their cart in the middle of the isle or, if they are with someone else, walk side-by-side so no one can pass. They like to linger in the high traffic areas with no shopping agenda contemplating who knows what. It’s as if they have never seen food products arranged in isles and on shelves. Or maybe they just happened into a grocery store for the first time in their life. Unlike the grocery tourists, I like to get in and get out as quick as I can. While I’m not the busiest person on the planet, I know that I don’t want to spend my free time looking around the grocery store.

Now I may be a little sensitive to this topic because I happened to be at the store this weekend and was surrounded by way too many grocery tourists that seemed to have no business being in a food store. Sure I could go to multiple specialty stores and possibly avoid some of this hassle but unfortunately I live in an area that doesn’t have a lot of those particular establishments and I’m not that snooty. Either way, I just ask that when you arrive at the grocery store please don’t act like you’re in a library because you’re not there to browse. Keep things moving and have an agenda or please move out of my way.

Wasting Time

2011-12-04T19:27:00.001-08:00

As seems to be the case, this weekend brought about more unseasonably warm weather. I figured I could use some time off and I did very little. The biggest accomplishment for me was firing up my smoker.

I spent all day making this:

Look like this.

It’s salt. Yeah, I know; a great way to spend ten hours on a Sunday.

DD Part Two

2011-11-27T15:30:00.001-08:00

So as many of you know this past Thursday was Thanksgiving for we folks in the U.S. and, like any good person, I decided to travel. For the second year in a row I headed to Pittsburgh to spend the big day and subsequent weekend with the freshly minted Mr. and Mrs. Babik. The highlight of the trip, however, was going to be my second dance with the Dirty Dozen; riding bikes up thirteen of the steepest hills in the city. I wasn’t sure how the ride would go since I haven’t been training but the weather was going to be ideal and I figured I could struggle through it. After all, I would be starting with a belly full of Turkey.

A lot happened over the weekend so instead of going into specific detail I figure it will be easier to just make a list so here goes:

Jared and Caroline host an amazing Thanksgiving feast
Jared has more beer left over from his wedding than any one person should
Pittsburgh has some fun mountain bike trails right in the city
Steve K. is awful at NHL 95 but for some reason is really good at the Sweet Valley High board game
There's free parking closer to the Pen’s games than most people realize, but watch out for the nacho cheese
Caroline makes an amazing breakfast and is great at motivating cyclists so they don’t quit
Steevo can ride the wheels off a bike; any bike
Jared can get true hill points when he tries
Riding roads and trails for four days straight takes a lot out of you
Driving the turnpike the Sunday after Thanksgiving is a bad idea

As you can see it was a full couple of days and that is just a partial list. I survived another Dirty Dozen and completed all the hills. I felt better than I thought and rode stronger than I expected. Steevo won his 8th straight DD and a record crowd of over 300 cyclists showed up to start the 29th installment of this little tour of Pittsburgh (but the amount of finishers is unknown). Of course the show on WQED and the 60 degree weather probably helped but who’s counting? I’ve already decided that I’ll be back to do it again next year because the whole trip was a lot more fun than I expected but more importantly, I’ll get a dot next to my name for (hopefully) finishing my third DD.

Mirror Mirror

2011-11-20T15:29:00.001-08:00

Earlier this week I was out with Nikki and Cathy to celebrate Nikki’s birthday. We decided to go to one of Nikki’s favorite restaurants so she could indulge in all the gluten-free offerings available. It was the least we could do and there were plenty of gluten-heavy food on the menu so I was okay. We ordered some food and drinks and went about some casual conversation.

A short time later, the waitress returned to our table with our drinks. As she was preparing to head off and make sure the needs of other patrons were being met, she asked if I had ever seen the television show, “Bones” because I had a striking resemblance to one of the main characters. I thanked her for the compliment and asked if she wanted an autograph because, while I’m not the actor she was thinking of, I do get plenty of airtime on the local public access channel. Not surprisingly, she declined.

What made this observation more interesting was that Nikki has informed me of this resemblance several times before. She even had a rousing back-and-forth with the waitress regarding this fact. I wasn’t entirely sure I knew who they were talking about but this piqued my interest enough to explore said actor.

Below are two photos. The first one is me and the second one is T.J. Thyne, the actor that apparently looks like me (thanks interweb for making photos of this guy available). Personally I don’t really see a resemblance but, since he doesn’t look like a troll (no offense to the trolls that read this blog), I’m okay with the notion that we share a similar appearance. Maybe someday, I’ll meet him in person, but then we’ll have to fight to the death. After all, that’s the doppelganger code.

Big News

2011-11-13T14:43:00.001-08:00

So unless you’ve been living under a rock or were just born, you’ve inevitably heard the news coming out of the SC. Each day last week brought about new information and new developments on the severity of the issue. Quite frankly I think it’s going to get worse before it gets better and it’s just horrible to say the least.

Instead of talking about that (and I have some significant opinions on the situation) I personally had some news of my own from this weekend. It’s not as ground breaking and not nearly as controversial, but for me I thought it was a big deal and therefore I’m going to share. After all, that’s the beauty of having this blog.

So Friday was a day off for me and, after some coffee and house cleaning I decided to throw a leg over my bike and hit the road to log some miles in anticipation of the upcoming Dirty Dozen. Friday was cold and hella windy with intermittent snow flurries but that didn’t deter me from getting out. I struggled mightily but managed to spend about two hours on the bike and got in a few hills to boot.

Saturday I was planning to ride because the weather was amazing, but instead I got caught up doing yard work. It wasn’t my favorite way to spend a Saturday but it was necessary as the leaves were piling up. I also got in one last mowing (I hope) so the yard is in good shape for the winter. Needless to say, I was worthless for the rest of the day so I lazed around the rest of the day.

Sunday involved running some errands in the morning that I hoped would lead to the completion of a few last outdoor projects, but only lead to multiple trips to the home store. As the day was getting away I decided to head for the woods and do one of my all-time favorite activities; fall mountain biking. Brian and I set out for a little spin and I felt surprising good. Sure I was a little slow but my legs were okay and the trails were in great shape so I enjoyed every bit of it.

This was the first weekend in a long time that I was able to get out for multiple rides. I missed most of those occasions this summer as I worked on my house so it felt good to work on turning over my pedals rather than bettering my quarter acre. Unfortunately I have to go back to work tomorrow and I’m sure there will be additional developments on the other thing I mentioned at the beginning. I have a feeling there is going to be a lot more sad than happy here in the valley but for this weekend, I’m smiling.

Together

2011-11-06T14:06:00.000-08:00

This past weekend was one that I have been looking forward to for quite a while. I was traveling to Pittsburgh to witness the union of Jared and Caroline. I met Jared about five years ago through some mutual friends and I’ve known Caroline for about three years when she and Jared made one of his annual trips to the SC. Over the years I’ve become good friends with both of them and early on it was clear that they would wind up getting married.

Saturday morning Spring, Brian, and I headed out on our way to the big city. Jared and Caroline had an evening ceremony scheduled so we had time to get into town, have some lunch, get all gussied up, and head to the big event. Following the nuptials was a great celebration that included lots of dancing, lots of cookies, and French fries; lots of delicious French fries with assorted toppings. Nothing rounds out a long night of merriment than deep fried potato sticks smothered in cheese and bacon bits. Well, nothing except maybe watching the bride run barefoot down the streets of Pittsburgh while the groom carried her shoes.

Doors Galore

2011-10-30T18:59:00.000-07:00

Now that the weather is getting colder and the days are getting shorter, I figured I was done working on outdoor projects with my house. I had a few small projects left on the list that I was going to do like cleaning my chimney so I can get the wood stove stoked up, but nothing too terribly involved. I did, however, decide that I wanted to put in a storm door on the house to help cut back the draft around the font door.

As I’m finding with most projects related to my house, the storm door install turned into more than I bargained for. I purchased the door on Saturday but decided that since it was snowing I’d wait until Sunday to get the door in place. After I realized that I would need to remove some flashing and spacer strips to get at the actual jambs I knew it was going to be a long day. Then, after two trips to the home store and two hours spent trying to remove said flashing and spacer strips, I decided it was time to get out the headlamp because I wasn’t going to have enough daylight to finish this project.

After an additional trip to the home store and countless expletives spoken aloud and to myself, I finally managed to get the door hung and the handle installed. I didn’t actually finish the install nor did I get anything else accomplished. My living room ended up looking like a tool-bomb went off and my garage is just as bad. Hopefully I’ll find some time this week to get everything finished so I can enjoy the piles of candy I plan to get from trick-or-treating. Happy Halloween!

Seb-Dog

2011-10-23T18:27:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it's fun to take pictures of dogs. Sometimes it's fun to take silly pictures. Other times, though, it's fun to take silly pictures that include dogs. Especially when it's not your dog and when the dog is laying on the floor because he's exhausted from a full day of chasing mountain bikes on the trails.

The Numbers Game

2011-10-16T13:59:00.000-07:00

About five years ago, I parted ways with the land-line phone company and went to a completely cellular communication network. One of the advantages to having the cell phone is that it comes with caller ID, assuming I have the person’s number in my phone. What that also means is that I don’t need people to call me and leave a message on my voicemail saying, “Hi. It’s mom. Call me back.” I clearly saw that there was a call from my mother and would call back without the need for the message. Most of my friends know not to leave a message since, as in the aforementioned example, I would inevitably call the person back.

So this past weekend, after a few hours of splitting firewood to get ready for the impending winter, I noticed a message on my phone from a number I did not recognize. There was also a voicemail so I decided to take a listen. It was a prerecorded message that I considered deleting right away but when they said it was my bank, I thought I better continue to listen. The mechanical voice said that there were some odd charges on my credit card and they wanted to verify if they were mine. Since I was just traveling last weekend I assumed it was no big deal and would clear everything up with a simple phone call to an actual person.

I called the number that was identified in the voicemail and, after a few automated menus, began to talk with a Kris. Kris wanted to check on a few “suspicious” charges that appeared on my card. I didn’t think anything of it but when she told me that there were two charges totaling approximately $600 dollars at a store in Maine earlier that day, I realized that someone stole my credit card number.

I’m not sure how or when it happened but after a few more minutes and providing some additional information, Kris said my account would be shut down and a new card would be sent to me right away. Fortunately for me, no more charges have appeared and all the other account activity seemed to be in order. This was one time I didn’t mind having a message on my voicemail.

Bike-ation

2011-10-09T17:56:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in my last post, this weekend was spent road tripping and riding bikes. Wormy Worm, J-WAG, my self, and the Seb Rocket caravanned down to the Shenandoah Valley Bike Coalition’s annual mountain bike festival. I’ve been down to the area to help out with bike races but had never ridden there. This was going to be a much deserved and full-scale suffer-fest of epic proportions. I just wasn’t aware of how much suffering would occur.

We all took off work on Friday for the trip and, after a brief stop in Harrisonburg for some supplies and to visit some bike shops; we rolled into the Stokesville campground at about three o’clock in the afternoon. This left just enough time to get geared up and head off to the downhill race. It was a short bike ride and a mild (by Shenandoah standards) singletrack climb to the start of the race and then about five minutes to bomb down some fast and swoopy singletrack. I wasn’t trying to compete in this race but I did want to recon the trails. This would be my first taste of what to expect. It was challenging, but I attributed my lack of skills to the fact that I’ve been off the bike for a while and needed to get my bearings back.

Saturday started early as we had a big day planned. Since Dr. Worm lived in the area for a while he knew the trails and would act as our guide. The three of us started out with a larger group and I quickly realized how my day was going to end up. My account of the ride goes something like this:

Step One - ride (or attempt to ride) straight up a mountain for about two and a half hours while getting punched in the face by steep section after steep section.

Step Two - spend about ten minutes riding an amazingly flowy and smooth ribbon of singletrack down the backside of the mountain you just rode up.

Step Three – slum back to the campground and cool off in the river before relaxing and enjoying the sunshine and amazing fall weather.

Sunday began with some sore legs and slow movements but we broke camp early and began heading back north. We stopped off to ride some trails near the local ski resort that Jerome had worked on. This ride was similar to the previous day except it wasn’t as big and I was almost completely crushed by the time it ended. Fortunately this was only about two hours which was about all I could handle.

All in all, it was a great weekend with great people and amazing trails that humbled me as a mountain bike rider. It will definitely be something I put on my calendar for future years as it’s a really chill event. The only downside was taking a digger in the mud to end my Sunday ride and provide a little extra clean-up of myself, my gear, and my bike.

Memories

2011-10-02T12:35:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time, I had a life that involved hanging out with friends, going on bike rides, road-tripping, and other pursuits that kept me feeling young and made for great stories. I would fill my weekends with activities that would test my physical and mental limits. I would secretly look forward to Monday and going to the office so I could rest up and begin anticipating the next weekend’s events.

Now, my time is still filled with activity but it seems to only focus on my house. I’ve taken on an ambitious schedule of tasks this summer that kept me from enjoying the bike rides and road-trips and other radical endeavors. I work on most of these projects solo and exhaust myself in other ways; and not necessarily the good kind.

When I first started this blog it was intended to be all about the amazing adventures I went on and the activities that tested my skills. Lately though, it seems to be about home improvements (or at least my escapades into home improvements). I think it’s time to get back to my roots and start being adventurous again.

Fortunately, I’ll get my first chance this coming weekend as I venture south to Stokesville and partake in a mountain bike festival. Even though the festival only lasts the weekend, it will be a much needed trip to relax and ride bikes. Hopefully this weekend will get me back on track to escapades that don’t involve going to the home stores.

Making a Point

2011-09-25T15:49:00.000-07:00

So in my last post I mentioned that I was taking on the task of repointing my house. While I’ve done limited masonry projects in my day, I assumed this would be an easy enough task to do myself, just a bit time consuming. While I was correct on both of those issues, the degree to which I underestimated how difficult this would be is kind of ridiculous.

The process to clear the old mortar was easy enough. Take a hammer and chisel, then smack old mortar until you think you’ve gotten enough of the loose stuff out of the way. It takes a little while but it’s a fairly simple task. What I found to be the hard part was getting the new mortar back in.

What I realized very quickly was that trowels, mortar bags, or any other tool that might be used for this job were quickly proven to be useless. In order to get the mortar to stand up properly the mix had to be relatively dry. This meant that the only tools I could use to apply the new stuff were my hands. While this wouldn’t normally be a problem, the fact that it was mortar made it painful. Of course I didn’t realize this until late in the game.

Basically, I was running my hands through wet sandpaper for the entire day. When I noticed the pain setting in I, decided to apply tape to the trouble spots and keep going (because putting on gloves would make too much sense). By the end of the day my fingertips were worn raw, my hands were incredibly dry, and my hands were covered in tape. I guess there is a reason the people that do this for a living charge so much money. Their glove budget alone must be astronomical.

Skillz

2011-09-18T14:47:00.000-07:00

As the fall starts to slowly settle into the valley, I’m slowly wrapping up the remaining outdoor projects at my house for this year. It’s been a long summer that was spent doing a tremendous amount of outdoor work and teaching myself a few things about home improvements. While I don’t know if I’ll ever use these new found talents, at least I can say that I have them in my quiver should the need arise in the future.

The latest skill I’m “teaching” myself is how to re-point masonry (yes mom, that does say re-point – it’s not a typo). See, the exterior of my house is stone and, due to a particular problem I encountered this summer with bees, I decided to move the re-pointing up on the list of projects. I have limited knowledge of masonry but I figure at five to seven dollars a square foot for someone else to do it, I decided that learning a method (not necessarily the preferred method) could save me a few clams to use on other projects.

I started to remove the old masonry yesterday and, after about an hour of sucking in fifty-year-old dust, I realized I don’t like this project. There is a reason I don’t do this kind of work for a living (other than not wanting to rough up my dainty hands) and it is emphasized with each stroke of the chisel. I’ve already reduced my expectations for how much of this project I intend to complete this year. Luckily I don’t need to re-point the entire house right away because the chances of that happening are similar to those of me becoming a professional mason.

Training

2011-09-11T11:04:00.000-07:00

As the summer starts to wind down much sooner than I would like, the seasonal change has me thinking about one of my favorite activities – fall mountain biking. I’ve been spending so much time working on my house and yard this summer that I’ve barely had time to ride. More specifically, it hasn’t been a priority and, as I look back, seems like a bit of a mistake.

Since I didn’t ride very much over the summer, I’m dreadfully behind on my training for one of the biggest events on my ride calendar; the world famous Dirty Dozen. The Dirty Dozen is just a few short months away and I’m feeling woefully unprepared to tackle the insanely steep pitches that pass for streets in and around Pittsburgh. Last year was my first experience with the DD and I’m cautiously looking forward to this year’s installment. Of course that means I’ll be spending Thanksgiving in the ‘burgh again and riding a lot throughout that weekend.

Right now however, I’m hoping for a break in the rain so I can actually get on a bike and start riding up hills, along trails, and doing all that I can to hopefully ensure I survive. I guess I should also start preparing myself for the late nights (that often turn into early mornings) trying to keep up with Jerry. He’s already started his training too by going to Las Vegas to see how many hours in a row he can stay awake. I think the DD will be the least painful part of this year’s trip.

Snacks

2011-09-04T21:33:00.000-07:00

As I’ve mentioned numerous times in this little blog of mine, I’ve been spending a lot of time working on my house. Also, as I may have mentioned in this same blog I’ve been working a lot lately too. While these two facts might not be very significant, they have a notable connection that leads into the title of this post.

One other subject I’ve noted in this here internet rag is the fact that I’m a super awesome single dude living in a swinging town. To the casual observer that might seem like a good thing, however I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s not as amazing as it might sound. What I’m finding out (the hard way) is that when you are single and own a home you get to do everything by yourself. When I say everything I mean exactly that; paying the bills, cleaning the house, maintaining the yard, doing improvements, and making dinner.

While I’d like to think I’m significantly competent in all of the above noted areas, lately I find that the making dinner part has been the one area of my single lifestyle that seems to be suffering. I really enjoy cooking but lately it seems as though I neglect that aspect until the end of the day and, instead of making some delicious meal, I tend to rely on snacks to get my sustenance. It’s not uncommon for me to get home from work, mow the yard, tend to some landscaping, and have a roundly nutritious meal of chips and salsa for dinner. Similarly, if I get home from work late after a night meeting I might grab a handful of almonds and a few pieces of cheese and call that my evening’s feast.

I’ve recently started to realize that without snacks I might not ever eat. While I fully admit that snacking isn’t the most healthy choice for my (lately un) active lifestyle, it gets me by. I have a handful of this, and a bowl full of that and by the end of the night I’m properly supplied by premade or otherwise concocted foods. Of course, there is the occasional peanut butter and jelly in the mix so I guess it isn’t all bad.

Bikes Anyone?

2011-08-28T11:21:00.000-07:00

This Saturday, in advance of the torrential rains from hurricane Irene, I decided to take a brief respite from working on my house to go and ride a bike. That’s right; I loaded up my gear, headed to the forest, and rode some trails. It was Jess’ birthday so there was a small group of people going out and I figured it would be mellow enough for me since I’ve been off the bike for about a month.

From the start I was feeling fairly terrible but I was okay with it. I slummed around at the back and let the rest of the group tear on ahead. Actually, Jess was feeling a little rough too so we rode together and chatted while we picked our way through the sweet singletrack. It was kind of nice to take it easy (not like I had a choice) and not try to crush the trail as fast as I could.

We decided to cut the ride short after just a little while. I didn’t mind because I wasn’t sure I had the legs to go much longer. I was getting close to running out of water as well so I took that as another reason to pack it in. Regardless, it was still a super fun day on the trials. I guess this just means that I need to take more time away from doing house work to have fun.

Reality Shmeality

2011-08-21T12:19:00.000-07:00

It should come as no surprise that I like to think I’m a busy guy or at least I talk like I’m a busy guy. When I get home from a long day at the office or finish working around the house I like to settle in and watch one of the seven channels that I have with my cable-less television. I’m a big fan of turning on some mindless sitcom that I can fall into and laugh or just zone out. The problem I have is that anymore these shows are few and far between. In particular, it seems like the majority of the programming is some form of reality based television and this kind of sucks.

I don’t really care what has-been celebrity can dance a tango. I’m not interested in knowing which member of the U.S. populations thinks their dog juggling/ventriloquist/uni-cycle riding qualifies as a talent. There isn’t a single person on TV that I would ever consider idolizing; especially someone I’ve never heard of that sings songs. If you think you can find true love among a group of men or women just by handing them a rose, chances are you’re in for a major disappointment.

I want udder, mindless, nonsensical blather that is spewed forth from characters with names like George, Jerry, Elaine, or Cramer. It’s okay if I miss an episode because it’s not a running story. Give me something to laugh at; something that whisks me away from the reality I deal with all day and transports me into some kind of fantasy land where I can laugh at bawdy jokes or simple one-liners. Television use to be an escape. Now it’s just a bunch of people trying to win something, and nothing about that is funny or enjoyable.

Killing Time

2011-08-14T08:14:00.000-07:00

After a long dry spell, the rains have been peppering the SC repeatedly and I couldn’t be happier. Not only was my yard looking a little rough, the landscaping was starting to take a beating too. While I realize we need the rain, it put a bit of a wrinkle in my weekend plans that were probably too ambitious for my own good.

Instead, I spent Sunday morning enjoying my coffee and watching some television. Usually on the weekends I’ll listen to some NPR while waking up but I can only take so much Thistle & Shamrock. Since I don’t have cable, my options for programming on the TV is limited. This Sunday I found myself watching a local “outdoors” show that was all about a guy trapping animals.

I have no personal or moral issues with this kind of show but I often have to laugh while watching. In essence, the show consists of a guy wading around in roadside ditches setting traps to catch muskrats or minks or whatever else might wander into the unsuspecting jaws of death. I don’t want to sound too uppity, but this was probably one of the most redneck things I’ve seen in a while. I have to give the guy credit for being so enthusiastic about outsmarting varmit but I’m not sure it qualifies as quality programming. Of course, I did watch the entire show so it had me hooked.

The Double R

2011-08-07T09:28:00.000-07:00

While shameless plugs are not usually my thing, I figure throwing one out every once in a while can hurt. With that in mind, I offer the following.

For those of you that will be in the SC towards the end of September I would recommend you check out the 2011 Banff Radical Reels Tour that will be playing at the State Theatre. It should provide an evening of high adrenaline excitement for all those in attendance. What is this tour and why am I promoting it? Well, I would describe the tour as the regular Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour without all the lame stuff. I'm throwing out my support because the proceeds will help benefit the Climbing Conservancy of Central Pennsylvania which is a local not-for-profit climbing organization. Oh yeah, and I'm also on the board of directors, so there's that.

While you've got a few minutes, check out this cool website that Scott and Ieva put together and buy some tickets so you can be one of the lucky few that gets to have your mind blown on September 27th.

Free-Dumb

2011-07-31T18:41:00.000-07:00

I'm not entirely sure why, but lately I've been seeing a lot of houses with miscellaneous stuff piled in the yard and a sign next to it with some iteration of, "Free For The Taking." While this isn't entirely unusual, I am always surprised at the number of people that are sifting through the mounds of unwanted items looking for who knows what. I appreciate the fact that before a potential treasure is carted off the the landfill it gets a second lease on life, but let's be honest, what's really going to be in this heap of trinkets that's worth value.

The way I figure, if someone is willing to just give away a treasured piece of bric-a-brac then it probably doesn't have much value. Sure, I personally have given away a stove that I could have actually sold, but it was an old and unsafe fire hazard that I didn't want to hassle with. That's kind of how I feel about these heaps of "Free Stuff."

The most intriguing part to me, however, is the people that stop and wade through the freebies. It doesn't seem to matter what the situation, as soon as someone sees a sign advertising something free, a Pavlovian response is triggered and the person stops. Going to a wedding? Don't forget to check out the give-a-ways of the college kids moving out of their rental. Big job interview? Maybe you can forget about working when you find that priceless artifact in the mountain of free rubbish on the way. Hot date tonight? Your sweetie will be overly impressed by the secondhand crap you found on the way to the fancy dinner.

In the end however, I guess it doesn't mater what the particulars are of the trash. It really does seem that one person's junk might be another person's treasure. And the fact that it's free apparently makes it just too good to pass up.

Welcome to Hades

2011-07-24T10:01:00.000-07:00

It will come as no surprise to anyone that it’s been a shade hotter than normal here in the SC. Now when I say a shade, I really mean exponentially. It’s been so hot that I actually wanted to go to work just to be in the air conditioning. I’m not saying it’s the hottest place on earth, but sometimes I feel like the inside of my house is, in fact, the fiery molten center of the earth. I may be wrong, but I think it reached one million degrees here.

When it gets hot like this I’m reminded of a saying that goes something like, “cool as the underside of the pillow.” Well, just for fun I took a thermometer to see just how cool the underside of my pillow was. I was hoping it would be icy cold and could somehow devise a contraption that could use this chilled pillow technology to make the rest of my house bearable. To my surprise it wasn’t cool at all. In fact, it was almost 90 degrees. That’s right, 90. Keep in mind; it was just past seven o’clock in the evening when I took this reading. It was at that very moment I realized I was going to sleep at someone else’s house and leave my pillow at home.

I’m fairly confident the heat will let up and, before long, it will start getting cold. Then, I’ll have a whole new list of things to complain about. It’s really just one big cycle of being too hot and too cold with a few days of just right thrown in for fun.

All By Myself

2011-07-17T10:57:00.000-07:00

Over the past few years I’ve noticed a trend in my bicycle riding. No, it’s not the fact that I’m getting weaker and slower (although I’ve clearly realized that). Lately, I find myself riding alone. More specifically, I find that most of the time I prefer to ride alone.

I first started seriously riding when I lived in South Georgia. I was riding road bikes exclusively because it was flat and there were no mountains to be found. Since it was the south, being a cyclist made you different; therefore we had a serious club that rode regularly. Consequently, my first few years of riding were always with at least a half dozen people.

After moving back to Pennsylvania I was able to ride both road and mountain bikes. While there are a greater number of people that ride I the SC, the organization pretty well sucks and people are very specific about whom they ride (or train) with. Fortunately I had a few people that I could count on to ride with me on a regular basis. It was nice because I didn’t really know my way around the roads or the trails so having local guides was very beneficial to my overall survival on the bike.

As the years past I became more comfortable in the woods and on the country roads. Also, I found myself working more and having less time to participate in any semblance of an organized ride. When the opportunity arose, I would head off by myself to get in any miles I could. More and more, this became comfortable and easy. I would go at my own pace, when I had time, and on whatever route I wanted. I would throw in my iPod to keep me distracted which helped immensely.

Riding solo seems to be the norm for me now. Sure I still like to ride with people when I can but that’s not always easy with an irregular schedule. Often when I set out sans people I feel like I’m channeling my inner Jimbo. For those of you who know Jimbo, you might agree that he would probably be appalled by this notion since he doesn’t tend to like people or aspire to be anyone’s role model but is awesome at riding alone.

Uninvited Guests

2011-07-10T19:47:00.000-07:00

For the regular readers of this little blog of mine, you may have noticed that the last several posts have been a departure from my usual banter of rides and other awesome outdoor activities. Instead, I have been talking about boring domestic type stuff. I changed all of that this past weekend with many hours of mountain bike riding. It was nice to be back in the woods on the trails enjoying some ride-time with friends.

On Sunday, Jeremy, Nikki, Josh (Jeremy’s brother), and I made the ridiculously long drive to ride the Allegrippis Trails at Raystown Lake. I didn’t realize however, that Nikki was going to sit out our ride and hand her bike over to someone else. That person was none other than our new friend Nixtreeme.

In a dizzying display of awesomeness, Nixtreeme raged onto the scene and put on a clinic of trail-crushing abilities. It was all we could do to keep up as she doubled the whoops and carved out the singletrack like a Thanksgiving turkey. In fact, Nixtreeme’s abilities were so mind-blowing we had to let extra air out of her front shock to make sure she got maximum travel in order to limit the impact on the trails.

While it might seem like I’m making this up, you’d be wrong. The only reprieve we got from this expo of trail slaying and chest bumps was to pick some fresh raspberries along the way. I just hope for Jeremy’s sake that Nixtreeme limits her new found coolness to the forest.

Welcome

2011-07-03T14:57:00.000-07:00

After much internal debate and deliberation, I finally decided it was time for me to become an adult and join the rest of the world. This was no small decision mind you and it was a long time in the making. Last week I went out and got me an iPhone.

There was no philosophical reasoning for me waiting so long to get a pocket computer that makes phone calls. It was more that my life isn’t complex enough to require such a powerful device. Of course, my previous phone was getting old and it was time to upgrade so I decided to go big.

I haven’t had the phone long enough to really know what it does or can do. I’ve made a few phone calls with it so I know it still does that much. People have told me that in a few months I’ll be using the phone for everything. I’m not entirely sure that will be the case but you never know, this miniature black rectangle may just change my life.

Fin

2011-06-26T18:01:00.000-07:00

After several long weekends, I can now officially say my deck is finished. Sure there are still a few things left to do like adding in some steps and other small items but for the most part I’m calling it a day. I have furniture on the deck and spent some time relaxing upon its freshly decked surface. Of course, I’m exhausted from all the work but I guess that’s the beauty of spending the time designing and building it but let’s be honest, I really don’t plan to do it again anytime soon.

Almost Done

2011-06-19T19:03:00.000-07:00

As the saying goes, “What doesn’t kill you might sometimes make you wish you were actually dead.” Okay, so maybe that’s not exactly how it goes but that’s how I feel. As I mentioned previously I have a new door which I think is quite amazing. In order to use the door, I need something to occupy the space that would otherwise provide for a rather sizable first step. Since I was helping Jeremy and Nikki build a deck at their house, I wanted to keep up with the Jones’ and build a deck at my house.

So I started this deck last weekend and now, a mere eight days later, I’m almost finished. In fact, I’m far enough along that I was able to sit on my new deck and drink a beer after two long days this weekend spent trying to finish said outdoor living area. I’d be willing to bet that one more solid day of work will complete this horrendously ridiculous undertaking.

Like most home projects that take longer than they should, I’m getting to the point where I want it to be done and I’m getting less and less concerned about the little things. For people that know me I can kind of be a little over-the-top about the smallest details but right now I don’t care if a board is spaced a little further away than I’d like. I don’t care if there is seam that isn’t exactly perfect. I don’t care if a screw is sunk in a little too far. What I do care about is getting this project finished. On the upside, I’ve decided that once this project is done I’m taking the rest of the summer off from home improvements. Of course it will probably take me until October to finish everything and get my house back to normal but that’s just a minor detail.

Decks, Part II

2011-06-12T20:20:00.000-07:00

So last weekend I mentioned that I was helping my friend Jeremy build a deck at his house. Well, this weekend, I decided to help him (and now that Nikki is back, her as well) finish the deck, but at the same time start mine. See, in our ‘hood we have a strict rule that only one deck is allowed to be worked on at a time.

On Saturday I decided to start my deck which basically meant I was destroying my arms by digging holes for the posts. I spent a goodly part of the day getting the actual size and shape of the deck figured out and I think it goes without saying that it’s going to be much bigger and complicated than I originally anticipated, but still relatively simple. Let’s be honest though, who doesn’t like a big deck (and get your mind out of the gutter Ms. Y)?

So you may be asking, why the rush to build a deck at my house? Well, when I bought my house two years ago I decided the miniature window in my dining room would look a hell of a lot better as a set of French doors. This week, that finally became a reality. Of course, I can’t have a brand new door without a massive deck to go with it, right (again, Spring, this is not the time)? Anyway, I’m going to take some time and build the aforementioned deck throughout the coming week so I don’t get totally destroyed by the process.

Crushed...

2011-06-05T20:04:00.000-07:00

So this weekend (starting Friday after work) I thought it would be a good idea to help my friend and neighbor Jeremy build a deck. Of course, when I say build a deck, I really mean doubling the usable footprint of their home. This was a colossal undertaking and I’m not entirely sure why I decided to spend an entire weekend digging holes, plumbing posts, leveling beams, and setting deck boards.

I guess it was a neighborly thing to do and the free food and beer was a nice perk but suffice it to say, I’m more exhausted now than I ever thought I would be and the deck isn’t even completely done. Of course, it is usable and that’s what counts. I’m just glad I wasn’t around for the jack hammering. Oh yeah, and a hearty congratulations goes out to Spring and Brian for getting all married this weekend so now they can officially stop living in sin. Congratulations you guys…

Take This Job…

2011-05-30T07:17:00.000-07:00

Recently, while at my nine to fiver, I was talking with a friend who I happen to be doing some business with. While on the phone, we engaged in some general small-talk before getting to the actual work matter at hand. At one point, Roman (not his real name) asked me how things were going at work. I replied that it was work and I didn’t like doing it. This response led us down a road of comical and profound discussion.

See, the way I figure it, nobody, and I mean nobody, likes their job. They don’t like to work, and they don’t want to go to work. I’d be willing to bet that, if given the choice, no one would actually say that they were completely satisfied going to the office whether it be in the home or at a remote location. I will concede that some people tolerate their specific vocation enough to not want to jump off a bridge, but there isn’t a single person that dreads five o’clock and the close of business (personal home life is not considered in this equation).

To prove my point, I ask you this; when was the last time you woke up and said to yourself, “YES!” “I’m awake and get to spend another day doing (insert lame job here)!” Or, when was the last time a Friday rolled around and you were sad to have several days away from work? For that matter, when was the last time you weren’t thinking about the weekend on a Thursday afternoon?

Now, you may be saying there are plenty of people (maybe you’re one of them) that LOVE their jobs. I would say you’re a liar and that you don’t actually have a job. You instead have a hobby. People that have jobs need them to pay the bills and to maintain a certain lifestyle. People who say they love their “jobs” have the means to quit them at any point, thus making it a hobby.

While I don’t necessarily like my job, I’m happy to have one. I don’t completely hate it but there are definitely days that I would prefer doing something else. If I had the means to maintain my current gear habit I would quit my job in a heartbeat and pick up a hobby. Of course I don’t see that happening anytime soon so I guess I’ll be back flying my desk on Monday morning and counting the hours until Friday afternoon.

Wedding Bells

2011-05-22T11:23:00.000-07:00

While it should come as no surprise, I’m highly exhausted. This weekend was more intense and action packed then most. It involved yard work, bike rides, entertaining, and, most importantly, a wedding. Apparently this time of year seems to be good for weddings since I know three couples that are getting hitched in the next few weeks, but this past Saturday was all about Herm and Justine.

As luck would have it, the weather cooperated and the rain that has been pummeling us took a break. This allowed the outdoor ceremony to go off without issue. It was a grand affair that went well into the night with bonfires and camping and fireworks. Personally, I had a great time so I’ll just assume everyone else did too. Congratulations Mike and Justine and thanks for throwing such a wonderful party.

Behind Bars for Life

2011-05-15T16:40:00.000-07:00

This Sunday was the annual Nittany Mountain Bike Association’s “picnic/bike ride/membership drive/wash-your-bike-in-the-creek/here’s mud in your eye” event. While it wasn’t officially billed that way (the printing costs were prohibitive), it kind of turned out that way. You see, for the past several years the NMBA has gotten together in the spring for a group ride followed by a picnic with time to relax and enjoy the company of like minded people.

Typically the ride goes off from Greenwood Furnace State Park. It’s a bit of a drive at a whopping 40 minutes but when single-track is in your back yard, that’s an awfully long way to go. Not to mention, the ride started at ten in the morning which added to the early start. This year, the weather was less than ideal. The temperatures were spot on, but the forecast was for rain, and lots of it.

About fifteen people showed for the ride and we set out as a group. After a short but spry warm up, I decided to jump on some single-track and deviate slightly from the rest of the group. Fortunately, the rain had started about the same time we rolled out therefore the roots and rocks were extra slimy.

After about three minutes on the trial, I decided it would be a good idea to catch a flat and spend some time getting rained on while I fixed it. It wasn’t a major setback, but enough to harsh my mellow. By the time I got rolling again, I was far enough off the back that I wasn’t going to catch the group. This was okay because I had a slightly different ride plan in mind and could now execute it. I ended up riding solo for the rest of the day and enjoyed some flowy albeit slippery trails. It was raining hard, the mud was kicking up into my face, and the grit was caking my bike and my body.

Upon my return to the park, I found additional non-riding people that had come out just for the picnic. I also found myself and others bathing their flesh and bikes in the nearby stream since everything was covered in a nice layer of muck. For an added bonus, however, the sun came out and it turned into a great day to enjoy some burgers and merriment following an overall decent ride with the local mountain bike club.

Four or More

2011-05-08T19:29:00.000-07:00

Finally, after long last, we had a break from the cold and the weather stayed above sixty for several days in a row. Not knowing how long this show of meteorological goodness would last, I decided to make the most of it and ride bikes. I wasn’t going to be particular and wanted to give my mountain bike and road bike some much needed attention.

It all started with a day off of work on Thursday. Fortunately, it was Cathy’s birthday so I had a good excuse to not go to work. Of course any excuse would have been okay with me. After a filling breakfast Cathy, Brian, Frank, and I went into Cooper’s Gap for some of the sweetest single-track on the east coast. The weather was ideal for riding trails and the conditions were phenomenal.

Friday I was back at the office for the day but made plans to ride some of the neighborhood trails with Jeremy and his dog. These trails are practically in my backyard so getting there takes all of about two minutes but they provide a solid hour of continuous single-track without riding the same trails twice. It’s just one of the many advantages to living in the Heights. We only rode for about any hour but it was a spirited pace that wore me out.

Saturday was more of the same. Jeremy and I took the dog out again for another loop at the short-track which is only about a five minute bike ride from the house. We were almost done with our first loop on the trails when the sky opened up and a cold rain started to fall hard. It was almost painful to ride back home but the rain felt good on the warm afternoon. Fortunately we managed about an hour of riding before calling it a day.

Sunday I decided to switch it up and get on the road bike to spin for a few hours. I tried to find people to ride with me but no one was available. I was okay with that and set out towards Spruce Creek. It was a glorious day with sun and just enough wind to be annoying. I ended up riding for almost three hours and gave my legs a healthy workout.

The interesting thing about the past four days is that I think it’s the first time I’ve ever ridden on four consecutive days. I’d like to keep this trend going and see how many days in a row I can ride because I’ve missed being on a bike, of any kind. There’s something oddly relaxing about turning over pedals and using my own power to go places, even if it is just to get me back home. I don’t know if I have the legs to keep this up, but it’ll sure be nice to try.

Two for the Road

2011-05-02T19:56:00.000-07:00

As promised, but with a short delay of several weeks, I finally managed to get away from the SC for a few days. On Friday morning I loaded up my car and made the “shorter than expected but still really long trip” to Atlanta to visit Sean and Lucy. This would be the first time seeing Sean and Lucy in just over a year, but it was also going to be my first foray back to Georgia since I left six years ago. The plan was to spend some quality time hanging out, enjoying the cozy north Georgia sunshine, and riding mountain bikes.

Upon my arrival at Sean and Lucy’s I was greeted with that often talked about Southern hospitality. That is to say neither one of them was home. Since I felt like I had been folded in half from sitting in the car for twelve hours I decided to relax under the magnolia tree in their front yard and wait for someone to show up. After a short wait, Sean rolled up on his motorcycle and he escorted me in for a beer in their courtyard while we got caught up on old times. About an hour later Lucy arrived and we decided to head out for some dinner.

Saturday morning came early but also included coffee and bagels. The plan was to ride mountain bikes on the Chicopee Trails, then head into Athens for some dinner and also to watch the Twilight Criterium. The Twilight Criterium is kind of major bicycle race that’s been held in downtown Athens for about thirty years and is crazy exciting to watch because it’s a short course and is wicked fast. That alone would have been more than enough excitement for one trip. Fortunately, there was more fun to be had.

Sunday morning Lucy and I headed out for breakfast while Sean stayed home to do school work (as he’s working on his MBA). The afternoon involved Sean and I heading to northern Georgia for some more mountain biking at Bull Mountain while Lucy went to work for a few hours. I had done plenty of road rides in north Georgia but never any trails so that was a treat to be had. After several hours of suffering on the red clay we made our way back to the house for some burgers and beers.

Unfortunately I had to get up crazy early today and drive back to the SC. Now, I’m extremely tired and a day late on my blog. I guess the bright side is that while I was in Atlanta Sean and Lucy not only got to spend time with me but they each got new boots. Of course, Lucy didn’t get to keep hers, but in this case that's a good thing.

Grand Endeavors

2011-04-24T08:31:00.000-07:00

This Saturday, after a cold morning, the sun finally came out and warmed the air just enough for me to stop everything that I was doing, get kitted up, and throw a leg over my bike for a little spin through the country. I was feeling spry and decided I would take advantage of the conditions with an out-and-back to Millheim. It was a little ambitious considering I haven’t ridden much this year but it’s a flat route so I wasn’t too worried.

Things started off great. I was feeling like a rock star and turning over the pedals like it was my job. The sun was on my face and I soaked in all the vitamin D I could. I assumed there was a bit of a tailwind helping me out (because there usually is) but I wasn’t going to discount my own abilities. That, I would later realize, may have been a bit presumptuous on my part.

Like all good cat 5 racers I ended up going out too hard with the wind aiding my escape. This allowed me to make good time on the way out but left me with a soul-crushing slumfest on the way back in. I felt like I was pedaling squares on the entire ride home. It wasn’t my best effort on the bike. At least the scenery was nice and the stop at Elk Creek to refill my bottles didn’t hurt either.

Enough Already

2011-04-17T17:05:00.000-07:00

I assume it’s the time of year but I’m starting to hit a breaking point. I’m getting completely fed up with being cold. I realize that’s kind of a sissy thing to say, but it’s true. We’re midway through April I would have expected things to start warming up by now but it’s not happening nearly as fast as I would like. Sure we’ve had a few teaser days of real warmth but nothing that says, “Put on the sandals and sit outside all night long.” This lack of warmth bothers me for several reasons but mostly it’s about the bike.

Since the beginning of March I’ve been in that mid-seasonal funk where the slopes are closed, yet it’s not warm enough for a gilded-lily like me to regularly be on my bike. I’ve taken advantage of the few warm days but that’s just enough to make me mad and also realize that I need to ride more. Between the ridiculous amounts of rain and the less than warm temperatures, I haven’t been able to get out much and it’s driving me crazy.

I guess if I was tough I’d be out riding regardless of the conditions. Then maybe I’d end up like Jared taking first at the Steel City Showdown today or like Vicki crushing every event she enters. I, of course, am woefully less disciplined and don’t like riding when my water bottles freeze. If my pleas for warm weather to ride aren’t enough, I would at least like to see the grass I planted back in March start to grow.

Best Laid Plans

2011-04-10T19:01:00.000-07:00

All week long I was looking forward to this weekend. The weather was finally supposed to be warm and I was going to get reacquainted with my bikes including my first mountain bike ride of the year. That, of course, was not the case.

Since my mountain bike has been on hiatus all winter I knew it was going to need a little work to get it back on the trails. I spent part of Friday trying to get things dialed in but realized that I needed a new rotor on the rear wheel. I had some obligations downtown on Saturday so I decided I would visit my local bike shop to procure the necessary equipment. I figured I would spend Sunday morning getting the bike put together and ride in the afternoon.

When Sunday morning rolled around, things didn’t go as I imagined. First, I spent way more time than I wanted getting my bike taken care of. By the time I finished I didn’t feel very motivated to ride so I thought I’d hit some golf balls instead to get my game figured out for the season. When I arrived at the driving range I noticed it was completely torn up and was being redone so that was a complete waste of a trip. With two big fat strikes I thought I’d take advantage of the light breezes and go to the park with my kite. That was reasonably successful until the wind stopped blowing.

With all of these failures behind me I decided this was some kind of a sign and so I did the next best thing and watched golf. It was much more exciting than it sounds and was a riveting final day with lots of ups and downs. That was followed by a nice meal with the neighborhood folks. I guess things ended much better then they began.

Mysteries from the Deep

2011-04-03T19:35:00.000-07:00

As with many weekends in early spring, I found myself in a standard dilemma. The weather was relatively decent and I contemplated going for a bike ride, but I wasn’t feeling very spry. Instead, I decided I would attempt to finish a house project I started over a year ago. It wasn’t a monumental task but definitely required some time and involved a lot of dust.

So my house has a full basement. It’s all relatively finished space but some is definitely more livable than others. It’s split into three separate rooms and every room has the same stupid Homasote panels firmly nailed or screwed to the ceiling. As far as I can tell they serve no purpose and hinder any kind of access to the wiring, plumbing, and other home infrastructure. I’m quite certain they were installed when the house was built so there is a solid fifty plus years of dust and cobwebs safely stashed away behind the panels. I’ve slowly been taking these panels down as necessary to gain access to the space above and decided it was time to remove the last of them.

One thing I’ve learned with these home projects is that often times you’ll get more than you’ve bargained for and could wind up with more work to do. Fortunately I didn’t come across anything like that, but I did find a few oddities that still have me baffled. For example, behind one section of ceiling, there was an extension cord. That’s right, an extension cord. The male end was visible, but the cord went into a hole that should be in my living room, however there is no evidence of a cord on the upstairs. I thought it was best to leave this alone and most certainly not plug it in.

Another delightful find involved a coil of Romex that was probably about twenty feet long. It appeared to have been disconnected from something because one end was nicely wrapped in electrical tape. As I followed the other end of this wire across the basement, I found it went through a different hole into the living room. I’m not at all sure what’s on the other end of this wire but I should probably figure that one out. With any luck, it will unlock a magical land of rainbows and unicorns. Either way though, it seems like there’s a lot more going on in my living room then I am aware of.

Growth & Learning

2011-03-27T18:12:00.000-07:00

Even though the temperatures outside might not reflect it, we are now officially into the spring growing season. With that in mind, I decided this would be a good weekend to plant some new grass along the side of my house where I had done some landscaping last year. This would be a perennial grass (instead of the annual rye I planted last year) and it would be a permanent solution. With any luck it will become a nice lush carpet where I can enjoy walking barefoot.

Since this was a landscaping project I brought in my trusted landscape experts (who happen to be my brothers) to assist with the heavy lifting and provide consultation on how to actually get everything to grow. I talked with my brother Tim in advance to prepare for the work and he agreed to purchase the grass seed and other necessary dressings for the impending yard. I rented a massive tiller to help make the work easier. Tim and Jay arrived on Saturday morning and we wasted little time getting to work (after eating lunch of course).

Without getting into the gruesome details, I learned two specific things this weekend. First of all, we probably took on more yard then we realistically had time for. It ended up being about 4,000 square feet and while we did finish (barely in daylight), it took a lot more time then expected. While it might not look like it, one of the pictures is before and the other is, in fact, after.

We ended up using about 35 pounds of grass seed; 15 pounds of fertilizer; two tanks of gas on the tiller; two bales of salt hay; four yards of top soil; and about 25 different rakes, shovels, and implements of destruction. I now have a relatively leveled side yard that should produce a really nice lawn that I’ll get to mow. The second thing I learned is that the next time my brothers come to town; I need to stock up on various paper products and juices.

Guns, Drugs, and Recycling

2011-03-20T18:57:00.000-07:00

So I was out this weekend with some people having a few pops when, for some reason unknown to me, my friend Matt and I found ourselves in an interesting conversation. After a short time, we determined that the difference between hippies and rednecks comes down to three things: guns, drugs, and recycling. I’m not entirely sure what brought about this discussion but it’s a simple equation and it goes a little something like this.

First, I should point out that while Matt hugs his fair share of trees he is by no means a hippie and definitely doesn’t drive a gas guzzling pick-up. Similarly, I enjoy drinking PBR but can’t stand the smell of patchouli. It’s also important to note that I’m going to generalize our findings because I clearly haven’t had the time to perform any scientific research to quantify or support these results. After all, I’m no academian. So here’s really all you need to know.

Hippies, for the most part, don’t care for guns. They are pacifists and violence of any kind just doesn’t sit well. Besides, with all the Birkenstocks and peasant skirts they aren’t really suited for anything but sitting around in fields of daises playing guitars and smoking hookahs. Rednecks, on the other hand, are crazy about their guns and can’t get enough of them. They also don’t miss many opportunities to hone their shooting skills. This is evidenced by the various road signs peppered with buckshot or the obligatory beer cans riddled with holes.

Next we’ll look at the drugs. This is a little tricky because hippies and rednecks seem to both have an affinity for drugs. The main difference here is the type of drug. Hippies prefer theirs grown by Mother Nature (or someone with better hydroponics) and rednecks like theirs concocted with enough chemicals to fill a bathtub (and that’s usually where it’s mixed). Also, the drugs hippies like tend to make you sleepy (from what I’ve heard) while the redneck’s drugs keep you up for days on end.

The last difference between hippies and rednecks comes down to recycling. Hippies are big fans of reusing or repurposing items so that nothing is wasted and only like to use products that can breakdown and return to the earth. They’ll compost and separate glass from plastic and grow their own food free of chemicals (but loaded with bugs). They’ll spend piles of money to have the earth friendly bio-diesel car while walking around in hand-made pants. Rednecks just throw stuff out the window of their truck or let trash “accidently” fall out the back of their pick-up truck and wait for the hippies to clean it up for them.

Youthful Beat-down

2011-03-13T20:26:00.000-07:00

So this weekend I decided I would take care of some of the more adult responsibilities in my life. Like most independent adult males, I returned home to my mom and dad’s house so I could have my father help me with my taxes. Normally I would be able to do them on my own with a pen and paper but now I have write-offs and deductions and other adult type things that the EZ form doesn’t account for. As a kicker, my parents were watching my sister’s kids (my niece and nephews) so I got a chance to experience, once again, what it’s like to be a care free child that gets help whenever you give a yell.

As an aside, when I returned to my “real life” back in the SC, I had an interesting conversation with my friend Nikki about a story she wrote when she was eleven. The inspiration of her yarn was to predict what her adult life would be like. While her account involved some common themes, it also included some very prestigious accomplishments. The point though, was that between seeing my niece and nephews, coupled with the reading of Nikki’s tale, made me start to imagine what my younger self would think about me and what I’ve accomplished (or how I completely failed).

The sad truth is that I’m not sure how my adolescent persona would feel about the way I’ve turned out, but I think overall he’d be happy. I still ride bikes in the dirt; I have front-row season tickets at the ballpark; I don’t need my parents to give me rides to the movies; I don’t have icky girls in my house that may or may not have cooties (SIDE NOTE: adult Eric isn’t crazy about this one); and I can eat as much ice cream as I want, whenever I want. Sure, I’m not the world renowned architect I thought I should be, but I’ve got a pretty good gig going for me. Even if eleven-year-old Eric may have had loftier goals for me, he probably wouldn’t complain about how things turned out.

Maiden Voyage

2011-03-06T20:48:00.000-08:00

Finally, after several months of missed opportunities and calm days, I was able to get my kite out for the first time and test my mettle against Mother Nature’s breezes. After doing some work around the house on Saturday, I loaded my kite into the car and headed to the park. It was a slightly overcast day with a few sprinkles here and there but nothing that was serious enough to discourage my attempt at flying the largest kite I’ve ever owned.

After some awkward time spent getting everything laid out and connecting all the cables, I gave the control bar a tug. In the blink of an eye the three meters worth of material was racing to the sky and I was pretending that I had a clue as to what I was doing. My plan was to try and fly the kite around and get a feel for how strong it would pull at certain points in the wind window.

I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to fly the kite; pull a little on the left and it goes left. Pull a little on the right and it goes right. The part that was a touch tricky was keeping the kite in certain areas of the sky without it trying to return to a more neutral position. One thing that amazed me the most was how strong the kite pulled. I expected it to have some force but there were several occasions when I wasn’t sure I’d be able to hold on and I could feel myself starting to get dragged across the field. Fortunately, I was able to keep it under control enough to take some of the power out of the kite and recover.

I spent about an hour getting acquainted with the beginning stages of my new hobby and it was all kinds of fun. I realize there is a significant learning curve and I’m looking forward to moving up to bigger and better kites. Of course, Mother Nature decided to bring about eight inches of snow on Sunday so I might not get another opportunity to practice anytime soon.

Passing Time

2011-02-27T20:54:00.000-08:00

This past weekend marked the anniversary of my arrival on this earth. As has been the case for the past several years, my birthday included a casual evening spent with friends. I had a nice dinner (thanks Cathy) and a few drinks with some truly wonderful people and yet, even though it wasn’t a wild night, I managed to have a ridiculous headache the next day. I hate to admit it, but I think it means I’m getting old.

See, in my twenties, I could rage all night long, get about an hour of sleep (if I was lucky), and function like a normal human being. Now that I’ve added a few years to my resume of life, I have a much harder time bouncing back, even after just a few pops. While I would have preferred to spend the weekend lounging around the house sipping coffee and recuperating, I didn’t have that luxury. I had to shake the cobwebs out and head to the mountain for some fresh air and early spring mashed potatoes.

I’d like to say digging trenches in the unseasonably soft snow was the highlight of my weekend but that wouldn’t be true. It was really nice to receive phone calls from my nieces and nephews (including you Josie), and the ginger cookies were better than ever. What really put the icing on the proverbial cake though, were the humorous messages and birthday wishes I got from Jeremy who was in Missouri celebrating in his own special way.

Training Weekend

2011-02-20T18:15:00.000-08:00

As the saying goes, sometimes you’re the windshield and sometimes you’re the bug. This past weekend I’m pretty certain I was the bug. See Jerry and Colin came into town for a weekend of bike riding in the hills around State College. I, being a fool, decided I would try and tag along for as much as I could and maybe learn a thing or two from them. That, as it turns out, was a bad idea.

Jerry and Colin rolled into town on Friday afternoon. Since it was an unseasonably warm day I decided to leave work early and join them for an “easy” afternoon ride to loosen the legs. It was a bit windy but overall it was a decent day. We were out for about two hours which was plenty for my first outdoor ride of the year. Saturday, however, was a different story. Not only was it cold, there were gale force winds and snow. It was brutal to say the least. Jerry, Colin, and I started out riding together but I quickly realized that I wouldn’t be able to hang on with them and decided to cut my ride short.

The winds were swirling every which way and I almost got knocked off my bike on several occasions. It was like being punched in the face over and over. Then, I hit the wall. I don’t know if it was a serious bonk or just the weather conditions but I had to throw in the towel and call for a ride. It’s the first time I’ve ever given up on a ride but for some reason I didn’t think I was going to finish in one piece. It wasn’t an easy decision to make, but while I was riding home in the warmth of Cathy’s car I realized I made the right choice.

Yinz Get Outta Here N’at

2011-02-13T20:56:00.000-08:00

Since I’ve been living in the SC, there has always been one event that occurs every winter. Sometime in late January or early February we get a wicked crazy heat wave for about sixteen hours. While this warming trend really sucks for digging trenches on the slopes (at least in the days after), it’s kind of nice because it’s a minor blip on the radar of spring (not you; the season. It’s a lower case ess) that, for some reason, gets my subconscious thinking about the impending warmth. Of course this can only mean that the trails will soon be ready to open up and reveal their sweet sweet goodness once again.

For some reason, we didn’t get that warm spell this year. In fact, it’s been the exact opposite where the temperatures have been extremely low. Needless to say it’s been rather cold. While I’m not complaining, the chilly temperatures have kept this gilded lily (yeah that’s me) on his indoor trainer for any type of cycling experience. Normally this wouldn’t be an issue, however this year it’s caused me to consider drastic measures.

Typically, I like to end my season of snowy goodness with a trip out west to enjoy some steeps, powder, and back country summits. This year, however, I’m considering the conclusion of my snowboarding season will be a trip down south, to ride a bike. That’s right; I’m trying to get an excursion together and visit some very good friends that have recently relocated to the Atlanta area. While I won’t hold their geographical location against them, I will allow Lucy to make at least one of the items that have been showcased here.

Unadvantageous Plugs

2011-02-06T20:39:00.000-08:00

So this past weekend, my father, who has been retired for many years and enjoys his time without doing manual labor, decided to visit the SC for some good ole fashioned elbow-grease laden work on the house of his youngest child; me. While ridiculously fit, my father can only handle so much strenuous lifting and heavy-duty work, so the fact that he spent two days with me revamping my basement is a testament to his resolve. I love my father very much and appreciate everything he did for me over this past weekend and the multiple years this work took off his life. Unfortunately, I’m not going to tell you about all the sacrifices my aged father made to spend time with me.

Instead, I’m going to talk about my “friend” Jeremy. So Jeremy has this little business that he likes to think is awesome. I suppose it has a certain cache if you’re into that whole mountain biking or trail running or outdoor lifestyle that the limited few odd-ball, wacko, hippie types like to enjoy. If that’s you, then by all means, be sure to check out his wicked awesome website about all kinds of trail goodness. It’s actually super stylin’ but not nearly as cool as my dad. Of course, we’re not talking about my pop anymore. Jerome gets the goods now, so please check out his site, and if you see my father, tell him he was bonzer this weekend. I was planning to do that in this post, but I don’t want Jeremy to think I wasn’t listening to him.

Good Pain

2011-01-30T13:57:00.000-08:00

So last week I mentioned that I have some significant pains in my back. Over the past week I’ve deliberated to myself, to friends, to co-workers, and to anyone who would listen as to what I should do. The choices came down to going to the doctor, having a massage, or doing nothing and waiting for the pain to go away on it’s own (or until I was so accustom to it that I didn’t notice it anymore). After enough discussion to annoy everyone (myself included) I decided to have a massage. As luck would have it, a friend of mine that lives in the neighborhood is a certified massage therapist. I gave her a call and scheduled an hour of what I intended to be an intense relaxing of my muscles.

At this point I need to mention that I’ve never had a real massage. I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect but I figured it would involve me on a table getting karate chopped across my back. Lucky for me, that’s not what happened. What actually happened was an hour of pain in areas that I didn’t know could have pain, and it was incredible.

It’s only been about an hour and a half since things wrapped up and it’s safe to say that I feel like pudding. My head is dizzy, I’m having trouble walking, and I can barely keep my eyes open. My muscles are kind of twitchy and it seems like I might fall over at any moment. It’s like I’m disconnected from my body. I guess I’ll need to wait a little while before I know if it did any good but at this point I don’t really care. It was so worth it and I’m fairly certain I’ll be scheduling another beating soon.

Death by Wood Stove

2011-01-23T07:59:00.000-08:00

This has been an interesting week for me with many epiphanies occurring. Some have been personal, some professional, but the most significant one is about me and my future plans for greatness. As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve thought about being a lumberjack (of sorts) where I go out into the forest every year and cut wood to be used as fuel to heat my house. Well, this past week may have slightly altered those plans.

First, I have to say, I really do enjoy my wood stove. It provides a ridiculous amount of heat and does a decent job keeping my house relatively warm (at least by my standards). The big drawback, however, is getting wood from the backyard into the basement where the stove is located. My current method of lumber delivery is to load up my arms with timber, walk down the outside steps, and stack everything next to the stove. It’s not the most convenient method but it’s the best I have right now. Well, this past week I realized a significant flaw in my system.

The day after transporting the requisite load of oak to get me through the week, I noticed a bit of discomfort in my lower back. In this instance, when I say discomfort, I really mean excruciating pain the causes me to lose the ability to bend at the waist. To make matters worse, a giant knot decided to form in the middle of my back as well. It’s like someone is beating me about the back with a broomstick only this broomstick is made out of pointy rocks and sized for a twenty foot tall person. Apparently my method of wood delivery may not be the most forgiving on my joints and muscles.

You would think I’d take this as a sign and do something about it. Well, you’d be wrong. I continue to use my current and foolish method to bring firewood into the house. I know I’m not doing myself any favors but I don’t want my house to freeze. It’s a vicious cycle and the outdoor temperatures aren’t getting north of about twenty. My new plan for heating the house is to hope for an early spring (not you Spring, the season).

101 Faces

2011-01-16T12:06:00.000-08:00

Last night I finally had the world premiere of my little movie. Since the show is only about five and a half minutes long, I decided to have a pseudo housewarming in conjunction with the screening. I’ve been in my house now for almost two years and haven’t had any kind of shin-dig so I thought it was a good idea to combine the two events into one big super event.

So here’s how it all went down. The red carpet was rolled out and like all good movie openings, the paparazzi were swarming the house making it difficult for people to get through the door. Fortunately I made sure to have ample security and velvet ropes allowing easy access for the celebrities that were attending. The first guests arrived about seven thirty and merriment ensued for several hours before the big event. I made sure to have plenty of food and drink so people would be fat and happy to hedge my bets for a successful evening.

I think overall the screening was a hit. People laughed, some cried, and I was told it was better than Cats. I guess in a perfect world I would have had a giant studio to do all the professional style editing and end up with a bonzer production that would launch my career as a movie executive (because I’m clearly not going anywhere with my mountain biking career). Since I didn’t have any of that and given the circumstances under which I was working to finish the flick, I’d have to say I’m happy with the way it turned out. I may still go back and do some additional tweaking, but for now, it’s finished and that’s the most important part for me.

Cool Breeze

2011-01-09T14:55:00.000-08:00

Well, it’s happened again. I’ve decided to embark upon a new adventure sport that will inevitably cost me money, time, and some damage to myself during the learning curve. So you’ve heard me talk about the fact that I want to be a surfer but don’t like getting the crap kicked out of me as I use all my energy to inadequately paddle out beyond the break. Well, thanks to Mother Nature (and I have to assume others like me), I don’t have to worry about paddling anymore. I’m going to make an attempt (for better or worse) at becoming a kite surfer.

That’s right, I’m going to become a kite surfer (maybe). I plan to attach a massive sheet of material to my body by 80 foot long cords, let the wind pull on it with gobs of force while standing on a version of a surf board, and hope that I don’t get skipped across the water like a rag doll. How could any of this be a bad idea?

I’ve seen plenty of kite surfers in my day on various trips to the coasts but never really thought much about it. Then, this summer, while on a vacation at the beach, I met a few guys that were kiting around and that’s when I began to realize just how much fun it could be and how easily they moved around in the water, not just making shuttle runs. Granted, these were seasoned veterans of the sport but still, it seemed to be just the ticket I needed to get me out of the spin cycle and actually surf (kind of).

At a recent New Year’s Eve party, I was talking with a friend who is an experienced kite surfer and has even made his own board. He gave me a few tips on the gear I would need to get started. Then, a few days later, he sent me some interweb links to trainer kites that would help me learn to fly and get comfortable on the kite without dropping a pile of money or ripping my arms from my body or slamming me into the side of a building.

So last week I ordered a three meter kite that should arrive sometime in the coming week. I’m both excited and apprehensive about this but either way I think it will be a barrel of fun. Of course in the near future I might also be looking on the interweb for some additional medical insurance.

World Premiere

2011-01-02T13:14:00.000-08:00

For the avid readers of this little distraction I call my blog, you may recall that several months ago I did a little mountain bike race. While I was pedaling along through the woods exploring pain thresholds that I didn’t know existed, I was also working on a movie. See, I had a camera mounted on the stem of my bike and I was taking pictures of myself every minute of the day. My plan was to take all the pictures, throw in some video, and end up with a movie that chronicled my day.

Well, after several months of editing and finding a computer that could process all the high definition video and photos (thanks Cathy), I have finally completed my little attempt at cinematic history and managed to finish it before the end of the year. Granted, it’s not going to set the world on fire with its quality or topic matter, but it turned out to be fairly okay. Of course most of the movie is ending credits, but I wanted to make sure everyone got their props.

While I would like to post the video here or provide a link to where it can be found, that’s not going to happen, at least not yet. First, I plan to have an opening night gala with full-on pomp and circumstance to debut the six minutes of mountain biking bliss. After all, the whole point of being a film maker is to skew reality and give people a perspective that may or may not be true. Besides, what other reason would I have for making a movie that is all about me?

Little Elf

2010-12-26T16:37:00.000-08:00

Another year has almost come to a close and Christmas is upon us once again. For a lot of people, the holidays are a time when there are traditions that they like to follow. I, interestingly enough, am one of those people. While I haven’t been carrying this tradition for very long, it’s one that I make sure not to miss. This time of the season I enjoy listening to an excerpt of a reading from a collection of holiday stories that is played on the radio.

Each year, that ultra liberal hippie radio station NPR plays a reading of David Sedaris’ Santaland Diaries. I have read the actual short story but nothing is quite like having the author himself retell the tale of his former employment as a department store elf during the Christmas season. The emphasis and inflection is where it should be and really makes the story come alive.

As I’ve gotten older, the traditions I grew up with have started to fade away. This isn’t anyone’s fault and I’m not complaining, it’s just that times have changed, schedules have gotten busier, and my nieces and nephews are now the center of attention for the holidays, which is where it should be. I think it’s time for me to start establishing my own traditions, and so far the adventures of Crumpet are definitely a funny way to kick off the season.

Fresh Tracks

2010-12-19T11:52:00.000-08:00

And so it begins. Enough snow has finally been created for the latest installment of what will hopefully be another banner year on the slopes. Last year we had one of the best seasons in recent memory so it will be difficult to top, but it’s been wicked cold the last few weeks which, if it continues, should ensure a proper base stays around. This weekend marked my first turns of the season but I was woefully unprepared.

While I knew the season was starting, somehow it snuck up on me. On Sunday morning I scurried around my house in what appeared to be an explosion of gear. I was running from room to room locating stuff that I had methodically stored away at the end of last year. The hard part was not only remembering where everything was, but trying to remember what I needed.

When I finally left my house I had two bags loaded with just about every piece of cold weather clothing I could get my hands on. Fortunately I loaded my snowboard in the car the night before so I wouldn’t forget that critical implement of the day. I also made sure to leave my boots by the back door so they would make the journey as well.

Overall, the conditions were decent for man-made pow. I got in a goodly number of turns but didn’t over do it because let’s face it, there’s a lot more season to go. I’m already planning some big trips out west so that will help extend my season. Finally, I figured I should give some love to my skiing friends so enjoy the picture while you can.

Plumbing for Dollars

2010-12-12T16:26:00.000-08:00

Since buying my house I’ve been compiling a long list of projects and other tasks that I want to accomplish. This includes demolishing things, building things, and changing things to meet my needs. One of the recent projects I decided to take on was installing a wash tub in my basement where a janky little (mostly dysfunctional) sink currently exists. Sure it’s a nice sink and was probably fancy in its day, but now, I need something that is more utilitarian. Oh yeah, and the existing sink leaks too.

In order to properly install a new wash tub, I have to do some minor plumbing. See, there are no shut-off valves or any type of modern plumbing in place now. While I’m not a card carrying plumber by any stretch, I decided that I would assume that role too. Plus, it gave me an excuse to buy a torch and other neat tools that everyone should have.

I think it’s important to note that I haven’t actually started in on this project yet aside from buying the necessary equipment. My plan, at this point, is to get the old sink out of the way and install the shut-off valves. In order to get that far, I’ll need to shut off the water to the entire house so if something happens to go wrong (and how would that be possible?) I won’t have any water. I’m a little hesitant to start, but I’m fairly confident that I’ll be able to pull this off. Of course I might also end up flooding my basement and then I’ll have something really interesting to write about next week.

Red & Black Plaid

2010-12-05T15:02:00.000-08:00

Well, it has finally started to get cold in the SC. I think this time the cold is finally going to stay around for a little while. We’ve had a few days of flurries but nothing to get too excited about, at least not yet. It’s been more of some playful eye batting then a full-on date, but hopefully that will soon change and the slopes will be covered with a deep blanket of white stuff, even if it is man-made.

Since the cold has decided to stay around, I thought this weekend would be a good opportunity to get the house in “winter mode.” That means putting in the storm windows, putting plastic on windows, cleaning the garage to make room for the car, and stacking as much firewood as possible in the hopes that I will actually have enough wood to use the stove this winter and keep my house at a cozy 62 (instead of the standard double nickels).

See, I have this crazy notion that each winter I’m going slog off into the woods and fell a bunch of trees; then cut, split, and stack all this lumber to use as fuel to heat my house all winter long. Sure, it can be fun to run a chainsaw and swing an axe but let’s face it, I’m no lumberjack. With any luck I’ve got enough wood to last me through the hardest part of the winter but next year I might just have to break down and buy a few cords of wood like most normal people do.

More than Enough

2010-11-28T15:32:00.000-08:00

So as promised, this is my follow-up to last week’s post regarding that beloved little bike ride in Pittsburgh known as the Dirty Dozen. As I mentioned before, this is an event that occurs on the Saturday after Thanksgiving and takes riders up thirteen of the steepest hills Pittsburgh has to offer. Here’s how things went.

I guess I had a preconceived notion of what steep hills were. After all, I’ve been riding a bike for a little while and I’ve been on some intensely mountainous rides. However, nothing I have ever done before was able to prepare me for the hellish inclines that I encountered on Saturday. I think it’s fair to say that I was woefully unprepared for these hills.

Unless you’ve actually seen the hills that are on the DD course, you don’t physically have the ability to imagine how steep they actually are. Add to that the fact that you’ve got almost 200 people trying to ride up these vertical streets that are no wider than about a car length and you have all the makings for a cocktail of pain and anguish.

The bottom line is I survived, barely. I made it up every hill on my first try and didn’t go down once. My heart almost exploded out of my chest on more than one occasion, and on the final hill I was going so slow that I think it was just one long track stand. My arms hurt worse than my legs from pulling on the bars and walking hasn’t been that easy. I should also say that Jared almost won Canton Avenue, but lost to Steevo (who won the DD, again) by about a half a wheel length and Colin took fifth overall for the day. This could be one event that I don’t ever want to do again, but it surely was a lot of sadistic fun.

A Cornucopia of Pain

2010-11-21T18:42:00.000-08:00

In less than a week, we folks in the good ‘ole You Es of Ay will be celebrating that wonderful holiday where everyone gorges themselves on too much food and then either sleeps, watches football, or falls asleep while watching football. That’s right, I’m talking about Thanksgiving. This year, like most, I’ll be playing the role of pilgrim and allowing others to take care of me and make sure I don’t starve. Luckily, I won’t have to wear a hat with a giant buckle on it.

Instead of spending this holiday with my family, I’ll be traveling to Pittsburgh to spend the day with Jared, Caroline, and a cavalcade of other vagabonds that happen to venture into western PA. Oddly enough, Thanksgiving isn’t intended to be the highlight of my trip. That will come in the form of me, a bike, and thirteen of the steepest hills Pittsburgh has to offer. It’s a little bike race/ride known as the Dirty Dozen.

For close to thirty years, cyclists have gathered on the Saturday after Thanksgiving to test their grit by racing and riding the DD. Cyclists race to the top of each hill, but then wait for everyone else before continuing on to the next hill therefore making it both a race and a ride. I think at this point it’s important for me to point out that I will NOT be in the group that is racing. I will be in the group that is merely trying to survive, and in this case I do mean survive. Granted, I’ve said that in the past when talking about rides or races but in this case I truly mean it.

See, the hills in the DD are beyond steep. I don’t think any hill is less than a 20 percent grade with the steepest, Canton Avenue, topping out at 37 percent. Did mention it’s also cobblestone? Well, it is. One of the rules of this little Saturday morning spin is that all hills must be ridden. Therefore if you fall or stop or cough up a lung and put down a foot, you have to go to the bottom and start over. I’m not entirely sure why I agreed to participate in this test of pure insanity but this year I will be thankful if I get back to the SC with my legs still attached.

Top Drawer

2010-11-14T18:16:00.000-08:00

This weekend I got to experience something in the SC that I’ve never done before. I was fortunate enough to get all fancied up and attend a gallery opening, for actual art, by real-life artists. Now I realize this might not be a big deal for some people out there but for me, in my little world, this was a first. See, I’ve never been invited to a gallery opening (or any kind of opening for that matter). While some people around here like to think that we’re an upper-crust cosmopolitan town that competes with New York and Los Angeles as a hub of cultural activity, the truth is that State College is an odd oasis in the middle of forests and farms that manages to attract a few tidbits of civility from time-to-time. That made this past weekend’s opening that much more special.

The opening at ion was an invitation only event which added to the air of sophistication. Also, because I knew one the artists I felt even more significant (but clearly that didn’t get me anywhere). Upon arrival, I glad-handed with the few other well-dressed individuals that I knew and set out to browse the various artistic mediums that were represented; all of which were for sale.

Very quickly, a few things dawned on me. First, I had no idea what I was looking at. I realize that art is subjective and means different things to different people but let’s be honest; I have no worldly idea about art. Eventually though, I began to recognize why I most likely don’t know anything about art: the price. While I don’t doubt the time, energy, and talent that is required to develop some of the items I was looking at, I most certainly wouldn’t be dropping two large for a chair that I may or may not be able to sit on. Regardless of my own personal shortcomings in the art-world, it was still nice to feel like a bon vivant and see some of my friends dressed in something other than a chamois.

A Little Taller

2010-11-07T18:15:00.000-08:00

So my friend Cathy is starting to see the light at the end of her full-on remodeling tunnel. It’s been about a month since things started and she no longer has a carport, but what she has gained is lots of dust, knock-out fumes, plywood floors with sections of hardwood, radiant natural light, a third bedroom, and about 750 additional square feet of living space. And soon she’ll have a cavernous kitchen (compared to her old one) and boatloads of finish carpentry to perform.

Since the contractor has been at her house for so many weeks in a row, the workers have been leaving most of their tools so they don’t have to tote all those heavy utensils around (after all, a 22 ounce California framing hammer weighs about a pound and a half; seriously). Since Cathy’s build has finally arrived at the drywall stage, the workers have been using stilts. So I stopped by her house the other day to survey the progress and, if you’re anything like me (and may all that is good and holy help you if that’s actually the case, because let’s face it; you’re screwed) you walked over to said stilts, fumbled around with the buckles, and experienced life as a man that’s damn near eight feet tall.

While I might not be the tallest man alive, I have to admit, being that close to the ceiling was wicked cool. I contemplated buying really long pants and heading downtown but I thought that might be a little too weird (especially since Halloween was last weekend). Anyway, what I realized was that everyone should be able to walk around on stilts (and I mean quality stilts) for a little while. It’s a unique feeling to experience what it’s like to be that freakishly tall (and see all the dust on the tops of their picture frames).

Halloween Screw Ups

2010-10-31T15:34:00.000-07:00

So today is Halloween. For most people, Halloween means getting dressed up as some kind of alter ego and, depending on your age, walking door-to-door in an attempt to fill a sack with candy, have an excuse to throw a party, or go out and about spreading mischief. For me, this year Halloween took on a whole new spin.

Each year, the powers that be in the SC get together to decide when to have the actual trick-or-treat night. Since October 31st falls on a Sunday this year, it was decided to have trick-or-treat night on Thursday. Why Thursday you ask? Well, Saturday night was the Penn State and Michigan football game and I guess people thought it would be a bad idea to send small children out for candy on one of the busiest weekends of the year.

There aren’t many kids that live in my neighborhood and I had been told that no one shows up looking for candy so I didn’t think much of the actual trick-or-treat night. What happened next will have a significant impact on every Halloween that occurs from here on out. As the sun started going down I noticed the streets filling up with kids going door-to-door looking for candy. This wouldn’t normally be a big deal, but there I was, sitting at home with not a single piece of candy in site. Reaching this disastrous conclusion I did what any respectable homeowner would do.

Recalling my childhood training, I began running around the house turning out all the lights. As any good kid knows, you don’t go to a house that is dark because they don’t have candy. Usually this means they are not home, but in my case it meant that I was afraid to have anyone come to the door. There I sat, in a pitch dark house for the allocated two hours of trick-or-treat night. It was highly embarrassing but at least next year I’ll be prepared to hand out candy.

Be Double E…

2010-10-24T17:31:00.000-07:00

Once again, this weekend graced us with some unseasonable warm weather (at least for the end of October). With an all but full moon, we rallied the troops and planned a little camping trip. It was an all-star cast that included eight adults, three kids, and one dog. Since some of the kids were going to be first-time campers we chose a spot that would allow people to drive close or hike in depending on their prerogative.

Clay, Cathy, and I decided to hike in from the Little Flat Fire Tower. This would give us about three miles along the ridge to get out to the campsite. It was about seventy degrees when we set out so it was an ideal day for a light hike and camping excursion. The ridge was ablaze with colors and the views were spectacular as we made the hour long hike.

Once there, we gathered wood and started our obligatory fire and settled into camp. Slowly, the rest of the group trickled in and the merriment ensued. As the evening progressed, we made our way out the rocks to take in the moonlit views of Bear Meadows. It was truly an amazing site.

It was a fantastic night to be camping and everyone had a great time. We were out in the woods with a nice little fire for warmth, a slightly overcast yet moonlit night, and great company. We laughed and joked and just enjoyed everyone’s company. Hopefully it won’t take another year to get back out for another campout.

Refreshed

2010-10-17T16:34:00.000-07:00

Don’t let the title of this post fool you. While I’d like to tell you a story of how I had a relaxing and casual weekend; the reality is that this weekend was no different than most. However, instead of spending time out in the woods being radical, I was spending time being “responsible.”

This weekend marked the annual refresher that I must attend to maintain my position in good standing with the Nation Ski Patrol. That basically means that I had to get up crazy early and drive an hour and a half to run through various scenarios that I might encounter in my day-to-day while patrolling the local ski hill. In reality I may never experience most of these scenarios presented, but there is definitely a lot of value in learning the variety of medical situations that could arise throughout the course of a season.

While I truly do appreciate the fact that this is a necessary evil and I whole heartedly admit that I need all the help I can get in having the basics drilled into my head, it would have been nice if this wasn’t a 70 degree weekend with abundant sunshine. See, we’re getting into mid October and that means that weekends like this are few and far between. It means that I’ll need to start changing my yard work schedule from mowing grass to splitting wood. More to the point though, I don’t feel like I’ve had adequate time to get in all the riding I’ve wanted, and that’s what really keeps me refreshed.

The Man With the Hammer

2010-10-10T16:24:00.000-07:00

As is typical in the SC, this weekend brought about some fantastic October weather. The evenings were cool while the days were sunny and hovering around the mid seventies. This all adds up to the perfect recipe for mountain biking. With the leaves slowly letting go of green and giving way to golds, reds, and oranges; five of us gathered at the shale pits because as Brian likes to continuously point out, I only ever ride in Coopers Gap.

The plan was to ride some of the standard trails in the Coopers Gap area. We anticipated about four hours of riding and would see almost exclusively singletrack. I hadn’t been on my bike in about three weeks so I wasn’t sure how it was going to go but I was looking forward to the ride. Everything started out great and I was feeling strong. I was riding fast and choosing lines that allowed me to float over rocks and trees with little effort. Then about three hours in, there he was, waiting for me to come by so he could ruin my day.

The Man with the Hammer came out of nowhere and rocked my world (don’t worry mom, that’s just a euphemism). I bonked, hard. For those of you that don’t know what this is like, here’s a little taste. Take a bike. Get on this bike. Find a giant tub of mud. Put the bike (with you still astride) into said mud so that the wheels are completely covered. Now pedal. I was sapped. Nothing worked. It was a struggle just to turn over the pedals and I was losing.

Fortunately I wasn’t too far from the end and most of it was downhill. I coasted back to my car and found the rest of the group. They managed to get in a few more trail sections while I slowly pedaled in on the road. I was glad to get off my bike and be done. Even better were the beers that Rich brought to share.

The New

2010-10-05T16:33:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I spent a few days at the New River Gorge in West Virginia. It was the 2010 Local Conservation Summit being hosted by the Access Fund and NRAC. Since I’m a member of the board for our Local Climbing Organization (C3PA) I thought it would be a good idea for me to attend.

Friday morning Scott, Ieva, Anders and I made our way down to the New for what would be a fun filled weekend with lots of climbers that are very passionate about their craft. I knew I would be one of the less apt climbers in the group but that didn’t matter to me as this was more of a reason to spend a few days hanging out with Scott, Ieva, and Anders and less about the actual event. Also, I thought it would be good for me to show my face around this group of people that I didn’t really know (and didn’t know me).

The event officially started on Friday evening with some general socializing but the real action didn’t happen until Saturday morning with formal presentations and an actual agenda of work to perform. We spent two days talking about climbing specific issues and working through problems that generally affect all the Local Climbing Organizations in one form or another. We also managed to fit a little climbing into the weekend on some really fantastic rock. Overall, I’d say it was a worthwhile trip but once again, I over did it and now I’m trying to make up for a lack of sleep. I guess it’s a good thing the work week has started again.

The Wedding; Part II

2010-10-01T06:08:00.000-07:00

So as I mentioned before I was out in Montana last weekend for a wedding. There were about seven of us from both the SC and Pittsburgh that went out and we were all staying together so it was like a mini vacation under the guise of a wedding. I arrived on Friday afternoon and met up with Jared who had just come off a four day bender in Vegas, while the rest of the crew would be touching down at BZN around eleven o’clock that night. The wedding wasn’t until Sunday so we would have plenty of time to hang out and get acclimated to the area before the big event; or at least that was the plan.

Saturday’s agenda included a cookout for all the out-of-town guests, which was just about everyone and our little east coast crew was in charge of bringing drinks. We started the morning with a shopping spree and got what we felt was a sufficient amount of beer, soda, water, and assorted juices for the crowd. We procured more than enough to put a hurting on the suspension of the mini-van the seven of us were traveling in (or at least planned to travel in). As we were getting ready to depart, the van decided it didn’t want to start. Fortunately Brian’s parents were there (since they live there) and we were able to make a vehicle swap that allowed all seven passengers and four coolers full of assorted drinks to safely find the venue.

The next morning (Sunday) we were “recruited” (and I use the term loosely) to set up all the chairs in the alpine meadow where the ceremony was to be held. I was given a general idea of what was to happen the night before but no real strategy was established so we were on our own to determine the best location and set for the seventy plus chairs that would (hopefully) accommodate the guests. Everything must have been satisfactory because nothing was changed when we returned later for the actual wedding.

At this point I’ll skip ahead because let’s face it; a wedding is a wedding is a wedding. It was a very touching ceremony with tears and laughs and a backdrop that couldn’t be beat. The reception followed which was great as well. That brings us to Monday when there was a plan for a nice little hike that turned into a full-on scramble to the top of the peaks. At this point I think it’s important to note that I was woefully ill prepared for any kind of hike as the only shoes I had with me were my Pumas. While these would have been the perfect footwear for going out on the town, they were not ideally suited for a seven mile hike through the high mountains of Montana.

Following the hike (and a short soak in the hot tub) we proceeded to make our way to a classic Montana steakhouse in one of the many sleepy little towns. At said establishment, we embarked on a full out voracious festival of meat, soup, salad, bread, potatoes, beer, coffees, and desserts. When it was all said and done we had eaten almost half a cow. We then sluggishly made our way back to the house for some additional soak time and beers. After all, it was a vacation.

Tuesday morning and I got into an argument at about four thirty. I was upset that I was seeing him and he just wanted me gone. We reached a mutual agreement and I was at the airport and on my way back to the SC. I somehow managed to drag myself into work on Wednesday, but it wasn’t easy. In the end, everyone had a grand time (or at least seemed to) except for our uninvited guest, Jared’s neck. I guess it goes without saying but congratulations Nate and Ali. Thanks for a great time in Montana.

Hitchin’ A Ride

2010-09-28T18:25:00.000-07:00

So I missed my Sunday night posting by a few days but I’ve been out in Montana since last Friday for the wedding of two very good friends. While I’m currently way too tired to provide a complete write-up, I’ll at least provide you with at least a little bit of what happened. I won’t give you all the goods, I’ll give you a few.

The ceremony was in the Montana wilderness which provided a spectacular backdrop and stunning vistas. There’s something to be said for elk bugling during the exchanging of vows while enjoying the warm sun in an alpine meadow. It was like nothing I’d ever experienced and may not get to again. Of course, a few PBRs while telling people where to park didn’t hurt either. We ate big steaks, went on hikes, made new friends, and soaked in the hot tub under the wide-open expanse of the Montana sky. Hopefully I’ll get my act together and provide the rest of the goods, but sometimes things are best left out in the woods.

Me and the Babes

2010-09-19T13:29:00.000-07:00

Recently I was evaluating my lot in life. I’m starting to get a little older and a little more grown—up (but not necessarily acting like it). I’m still single (which isn’t as shocking as you might expect) and was trying to figure out why. Is this by choice? I seem to be a decent enough catch (or at least my friends lie to me and say so). I’m relatively well groomed, I have a good job that pays the bills, I appear to be a productive member of society; so what seems to be the missing link? I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m just awkward around women.

Okay, so I do just fine around my female friends (hence the reason they think I’m a “nice guy”) but when it comes to a woman I might actually be interested in courting (I know that’s a bit 1920’s but in might come back) I don’t know how to act. I don’t know what to say. I don’t know what to do.

I blame this on a lack of dating throughout my younger life. I know it’s hard to believe but I haven’t had many of the girlfriends in my day and the majority of the women I have dated usually pursed me so it was easy. When it comes to me pursuing them, I’m quiet frankly just lost. I don’t know if there is a way for me to get over this but you never know, maybe I won’t need to and some woman will swoop in and sweep me off my feet. Anything is possible (even that).

A Change of Seasons

2010-09-12T18:01:00.000-07:00

Well it’s happening again. The evenings are getting cooler and the days are getting shorter which can only mean that the seasons are starting to change. Not only are the yearly seasons changing, but, as I’m starting to find out, the housework seasons are changing as well. I’m finally wrapping up the summer yard work sessions and beginning to make my list of indoor projects.

I’ve had a busy summer and I’ve accomplished more than I expected but there are still a few lingering projects that need to be finished. One of which is the patio in my backyard. I spent this past weekend working on it and I have to say, I think it sucks. Patios are not easy to do and I tried my best to completely half-ass this one in an attempt to get it done. Sure, my intentions were good but in the end, I started running out of steam. It’s not necessarily intended to be a permanent fixture (so it most likely will be) and therefore I had less motivation to do a quality job (which is clearly evident).

I didn’t have time (or maybe desire) to completely finish the patio but I got far enough along to be happy. There will be a few more hours of work to get it completely finished but it’s nothing serious. I’ll also need to buy a few more tools and supplies which I’m not looking forward to doing because it’s hard to spend money on this patio considering how much I’ve already spent to get it this far. I guess I’ll spend another weekend doing what I can to finish the patio and make the most of it therefore completing another summer season trying to add some curb appeal.

What’s It Worth

2010-09-06T08:35:00.000-07:00

Whether or not I care to admit it, I’m a gear whore. I love everything about it; the fit of a boot with a cushioned sole, the feel of a baselayer against the skin, the razor sharp edge on a finely tuned snowboard. I especially appreciate when gear is made well and thought has been put into the little details like a zipper pull.

Now that I’m a homeowner, my gear budget is all but non-existent. I accept that because now I have a place to keep all my gear. The part I don’t like is when I have to decide on buying gear or spending money on the house. I’ve entered a realm where I equate what gear I might be able to buy with what household items I could purchase for the same amount of money. It usually goes something like this: “I really need to get a new washer and dryer.” Of course, for the cost of the washer and dryer I could buy a new bike, which I also need (but not entirely).” “Even better, I could buy a new snowboard and have money left over for a new sleeping bag.”

I guess I should consider myself lucky to even have such dilemmas in my day-to-day. Still though, it would be nice to have a little extra cake to support my addiction to the Patagucci. I guess I’ll just need to plan a little better and budget for these inevitabilities because it would be a bit difficult trying to ride to town on a water heater.

Slipping Away

2010-08-29T17:45:00.000-07:00

This weekend marked a few noticeable milestones that I don’t necessarily enjoy. First, the evening temperatures have been substantially lower than usual. Actually, I do like that because it’s great for sleeping. Some other noticeable events include the first few glints of change in the leaves, my yard is getting littered with the dreadful acorns from my oak, the local single A baseball team is about to close out their season, and the first college football games are just a few short days away. All of this adds up to summer slowly fading.

I don’t entirely mind the fact that there are only two more days until September. That means winter will be arriving soon and so will the snowboarding season. It’s just that it feel like I haven’t really had a chance to enjoy the summer yet. Fortunately, this weekend I was able to get in a few activities that are very summery.

The weather this weekend was spectacular. The mornings were brisk but by midday the temperatures were in the eighties and sunshine was abundant. I greeted Sunday morning early. The plan was to scoop Cathy, meet up with Brian and Spring, then head to the lake for some waterskiing, swimming, and bobbing around aimlessly. We were on the water by about nine thirty and wasted no time carving up the glassy conditions.

Unfortunately with weather like we had today the water gets crowded quickly which makes for a bumpy ride all around. We all managed to get some time on the skis before heading to a beach to swim and have some lunch. We splashed around for a few hours then decided to pack it in. It was a great way to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon. Fortunately, I took home a souvenir that should keep that summery feeling around for a little while longer; a nice solid sunburn.

The Big Send Off

2010-08-22T19:35:00.000-07:00

This weekend Scott & Betty had what will presumably be the last big party at their current house. In a couple of weeks they will be moving from the hinterlands of Halfmoon Township and joining the rest of us in the big city. While it wasn’t a large scale affair, it didn’t disappoint.

Things started out innocently enough with families and children playing gleefully in the yard with dogs and other benign activities. Of course, after the sun went down and the parents began to take their children home to bed, things started to go downhill. Then, before anyone knew what happened (or at least me for sure), the bottom fell out. And that’s all I’m going to say about that.

I would, however, like to say to Em that I don’t think this is going to work for me. I’m feeling smothered and need a little space. Sorry you had to find out about it this way, but I think it’s in both of our interests.

A Break

2010-08-15T16:21:00.000-07:00

I’ve been really tired lately. It’s as if I haven’t been able to get enough rest to keep me going through the week. I wasn’t exactly sure why I didn’t have any energy during the week but clearly something was off. I seemed to be getting a decent amount of sleep, I hadn’t changed my diet, but Monday through Friday I was having great difficulty dragging myself into the office. Then I realized what the cause of this fatigue might be.

See, on the weekends, I try to pack in as much activity as I can. I get up early, stay up late, and usually do something that uses a lot of energy. Whether it’s riding, yard work, traveling, or entertaining guests, I get very little rest on the weekends. I don’t typically notice that I’m at all tired because it’s my time and I want to use it to the fullest. Of course, when Monday morning rolls around I struggle to drag myself out of bed and into the office and this is typically the case for the next several days.

Finally, this weekend I decided to mix things up a bit. Saturday I was up really early, did a bunch of yard work, went on a mountain bike ride for about three hours, then went to an “End of Summer before the Students Come Back” party. This was a typical Saturday for me. Then on Sunday I decided to do nothing. I mean flat out absolutely nothing. Sure there was a plan for a ride, but it was raining in the morning so I spent the entire day on the couch. I napped a bit, watched some television, and basically did nothing and I’m very okay with that.

Trouble

2010-08-09T05:53:00.000-07:00

This past weekend Nate made a return trip to the SC from Montana (with a brief stop for a conference in Pittsburgh). He decided to bring Jared and Bart along from Pittsburgh which meant the weekend would involve riding, drinking, chocolate milk, queso dip, steak, and Sega until the wee hours of the morning. To make matters worse, Brian was also joining in the fun.

Needless to say I have very little energy right now but here is a synopsis of the weekend. I got my ass handed to me on our mountain bike ride, spent way too long downtown, stayed up way to late getting schooled at NHL 95 by Jared, and I’ve been too tired to do much of anything today. I’m just glad they don’t make these visits a regular occurrence.

All Day Long

2010-08-02T06:49:00.000-07:00

I woke up Saturday morning at about ten minutes until three (in the morning) from the sound of a car with a poorly attached muffler. This was earlier than I wanted but with the pending day’s events only a few short hours away I decided to get up and begin preparations for what would become one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done. After all, Saturday marked the 10th running of the Wilderness 101.

The weather couldn’t have been more perfect for a race. At about 6:45 in the morning just over 300 people lined up to chase each other around the forest on mountain bikes covering a 101 mile course. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect as I’ve never ridden my mountain bike 101 miles in a day and I wasn’t fully convinced I was prepared for this undertaking. I’m not going to give you a blow-by-blow recap but I will provide a brief synopsis of my day.

I rode just about the entire distance alone and towards the back of the pack. I had several flat tires early that put me behind in both time and in general attitude. The fire road climbs were demoralizing but the single-track descents were pure joy and lifted my spirits. So what was the conclusion to my day? Well, I finished thus accomplishing my primary goal. Unfortunately I spent almost 13 hours on my bike. This was nearly twice as much time as the winner.

A lot of emotions are explored over the course of a 12 hour and 49 minute day in the saddle. The body and mind reach into places that you don’t know exist in order to endure the level of suffering that is required to complete a task of this magnitude. I pushed myself to limits I’d never before explored. When I finally crossed the finish line I was so excited that I wanted to keep riding but instead I decided it would be more enjoyable to get out of my chamois and have a beer.

Ready or Not…

2010-07-25T16:48:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in a previous post, I’m racing (and I use the term very loosely) in the Wilderness 101 next weekend. I’m now officially six days away from the start on July 31st. Part of me is very excited while another part of me is a bit nervous. The problem is, I’m not entirely convinced that I’m ready to embark on this trip aboard the pain train.

In less than a week, I’ll be putting it all out on the fire roads and single track of the Rothrock and Bald Eagle State Forests for one hundred miles of mountain biking bliss. I like to think I’m a relatively fit individual; however I haven’t had as much time as I would like to train for the event. I think I have the mental capacity to push through the suffering, but I’m not entirely convinced about the physical part.

There are many different factors that will affect my performance from my bike to the what I eat, to how I sleep the night before, to the weather, to trail conditions, and just about anything else. With any luck, everything will go according to plan and I’ll finish in a respectable time (hopefully in daylight). How I feel afterwards will be another story. Maybe I’ll have a full report next Sunday, but then again, I might be too tired to get out of bed or even walk for that matter. Tune in next week to get a full report (or not).

Back To Reality

2010-07-18T17:02:00.000-07:00

Well, our week of “Take the family to the beach” has finally ended and I’m safely back in the SC. A lot happened over the past week and, quite frankly, there is almost too much to talk about. It was one wild roller coaster ride that took us from singing songs one minute to full-on hysterical crying the next. We played mini-golf, celebrated two birthdays, played games, visited three boardwalks, enjoyed a lukewarm hot-tub, watched a house get completely framed next door, ate too much, drank too much, and somehow still managed to find time to get to the beach at least once every day (well, I did at least).

There were lots of good times and lots of bad times. There were a few occasions where I felt like packing up my car and looking for a hotel. After all, this was a complete departure from the “swinging single” life I lead in my day-to-day where I’m in control of what’s happening. I did take a break from the family to get a surfboard and meet some friends at Assateague Island so I could really get my ass handed to me by the ocean, but that was more about surfing than an escape. Of course it went a long way to making things easier when I returned to a house of crying children (and one or two adults).

Will I do it all again in another two years? If you asked me in a week I’d probably say 80/20 no way. Over time, however, the not-so-good events will fade away and I’ll only remember the enjoyable ones; those shining moments when the laughter was louder than the cries. Everyone will be a little older and hopefully a bit more civilized. While the question of a repeat performance is for another day in the distant future, a week on the sand in a boozy haze surrounded by bikini clad women will go a long way to influencing that answer.

Vacation

2010-07-11T17:11:00.000-07:00

So as of yesterday I entered full-on into a fun filled and exciting week at the beach with my family. Now, usually when I go to the coast it’s nothing but beers, bloodies, margaritas, sun, sand, surf, and solitude. When I’m with my family, however, it’s all that except the latter. Based on the official tally there is one house, seventeen people, fourteen cases of beer, one case of wine, two bottles of vodka, and one bottle of tequila. I think that should at least get us through until Wednesday, but I’m not getting my hopes up.

The Hurt

2010-07-04T12:24:00.000-07:00

One of the goals I’ve loosely set for myself this year is to participate in the Wilderness 101. It’s this little mountain bike race that visits the fire roads and single-track of the Bald Eagle and Rothrock State Forests; basically my backyard. It’s typically held at the end of July and covers 100 miles. The past several years I’ve volunteered for the race so I figured it’s about time to give it a go and see what it’s like from the other side.

Over the years I’ve ridden the whole course in various segments but never linked it all together in one day. This weekend, Brian and I decided to ride a bit of the course in preparation for the race. I wanted to gauge my fitness level and put in some miles so we settled on a loop that would take us on about half of the race route. Of course, riding with Brian I knew I was going to suffer, but Mother Nature also helped with that.

To say this weekend was hot is an understatement. It’s been brutally oppressive the last several days here in the SC. At times I felt like I was riding on the sun. Other times, I felt like I was riding in a blast furnace. I’m not a meteorologist, but I think at one point the temperature reached one billion degrees. Add to that the ridiculously dry weather we’ve had lately and it made the suck quotient rise exponentially.

When the ride was finished I was completely worked. My legs were almost black from all the dust sticking to me and my arms felt like wet noodles with lead weights for hands. I’m not sure what my legs felt like because they had no feeling left in them. We ended up logging about fifty miles over six hours. Some of it was really fun, but none of it was easy. I’m not sure what this means about my abilities to finish the 101 but no one needs to worry about me taking a podium spot.

Progress

2010-06-27T19:38:00.000-07:00

This past weekend a major hurdle was crossed in the on-going saga that is my yard. Ever since I bought my house almost a year ago I’ve been continually working to provide a bit more curb appeal by clearing out some much neglected landscaping (and I use the term landscaping very loosely). The previous owners of my home were, how you say, not the most conscientious when it came to maintaining the yard and the growth. One severely unruly area was my side yard.

The side yard consisted of a thick growth of plants, shrubs, volunteer trees, vines, leaf litter, and just about anything else that you can imagine. It was about ten feet high about 100 feet long, and about ten feet wide. It blocked out all the light from my backyard as it was too thick to see through. At first I started trying to prune it but decided it would be easier to cut it all down, which I eventually did. Of course, the site prep (including stump removal, adding soil to fill holes, removing rocks, killing off weeds, etc.) kept me occupied for the past 11 months.

This past weekend it was time to replant the space with more appropriate vegetation to provide interest, color, and some light screening. Of course none of it would have been possible without the help of my brothers who know a thing or two about landscaping and plants. I gave them full control to select plants and provide guidance on placement and layout. My role was to pay for everything and chauffeur them around to get everything they said I needed.

In one full days time we managed to take a blank canvas and convert it to what will hopefully be a manageable and lush bed of fresh plants and grasses. While I personally am superbly happy with the way things turned out and how everything looks, I was getting additional validation from my neighbors passing by. Now I’ll have the rest of the summer to work on the numerous other projects on my list.

As Old As You Feel

2010-06-20T17:22:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I made yet another return trip to my boy-hood home. This time it was for the wedding of a family friend. I haven’t seen the groom or his family since his sister got married four years ago so I decided to attend. Also, the majority of my family was going too so I felt some degree of obligation.

The ceremony was as expected. It was an outdoor wedding and it was crazy hot but it was short and soon everyone retired to an air conditioned room for the reception. On the walk to the reception hall I heard a familiar voice calling my name. It was an old friend from high school that I probably haven’t seen in ten years. Apparently his wife was friends with the bride which is why he was in attendance.

For a little back story, after graduating from high school I split town and attended college at Iowa State University. It was as far as I could get away where I still knew people that could help me out if I needed it (I have relatives in Iowa). After graduating from Iowa State, I moved to Georgia for work. This little jaunt around the country took about ten years of my life. During this chapter of my life I didn’t get back to my old stomping grounds very often. Most everyone else I grew up with stayed close by the ‘burg or have moved back.

As we reminisced about old times, I also got an update on who was doing what and where people were. As it turns out, most of the people I grew up with are now married and have kids that keep them on the move. I began comparing this to my life: I’m still single, living by myself, and spend all my free time adventuring with my friends. At first I began to feel as though I had missed out on something or wasn’t being “responsible.” Then I realized it was quite the opposite.

I might be doing things differently but I'm enjoying myself just as much. The way he made things sound was that all my fellow high school classmates were all old married couples. The funny thing is, I don’t consider myself old even though I’m the same age. I guess it’s all about perspective and from where I’m sitting, things are going just fine.

Priorities

2010-06-13T17:30:00.000-07:00

As I’ve said in the past, State College is a happenin’ town and this weekend proved no different. Not only was there a big music festival with some really solid local bands, there was a bonzer mountain bike race through Rothrock State Forest, and several parties in my neighborhood. Being a (relatively) hip, single guy in such a cool locale with all these choices to occupy my time, I decided to leave town to attend the birthday party of an unrelated three-year-old at a glorified petting zoo.

Now granted, this was the daughter of my friends Alex and Andrea (from a few posts ago) and she is a cool little girl. However, Andrea had also invited our mutual friends Lisa and Amos from Vermont and they decided to make the trip into town as well. When I heard they were going to be attending I figured I didn’t have any choice but to show up. After all, I don’t get to see them very often and I would have needed a seriously good excuse (severed limb, head on fire, stuck in a hole) for Andrea to allow me to stay away. See, Andrea has categorized Lisa and Amos as “sacred cows.” This basically means that everything else is secondary (including personal health, safety, and welfare) if there is even a remote chance to spend time with them.

To add some context, Alex, Andrea, Lisa, Amos, and I all met as Northerners in deep South Georgia. Andrea, Lisa, and I all moved there independent of one another for work reasons while Alex and Amos followed their wives (however neither couple was married at the time). None of us had ties to anything southern or in any close geographic proximity. Upon meeting each other, however, there was a familial bond that formed between us since we were all experiencing a similar degree of foreignness. Consequently, we all spent a lot of time together sharing in all the unique idiosyncrasies of the cultural situation we put ourselves in. Of course, over time, we all moved back north and continue a less frequent face-to-face interaction.

If Lisa and Amos hadn’t been in town I probably would have stayed in the SC and enjoyed all the activities that make this little slice of Central Pennsylvania so much fun. I would have gotten an earful from Andrea for disappointing her daughter (although she wouldn’t have known I wasn’t there) but that’s nothing new. Fortunately Lisa and Amos did show up and, as always, it was really great to see them again.

What Doesn’t Kill You…

2010-06-06T17:27:00.000-07:00

Meet Brian. At first glance, you might think Brian is a mild mannered individual. After all, he’s an engineering professor at a local university (and therefore a bit nerdy), he’s tall, lanky, and has a relatively consistent “nothing bothers me” attitude. He’s also starting to grey a bit but that’s not really his fault. Brian is a classic case of judging the book by its cover. While the jacket may seem simple, the story is all about pain and suffering. Of course, he’s the one that inflicts the pain and causes the suffering.

While this may seem like an exaggeration, every time I have joined Brian for some kind of outdoor activity, it turns out to be a full-on sufferfest. Well, at least I end up suffering while Brian casually rolls along and pretends to be exerting some effort but that just adds insult to injury. Sunday was a prime example of Brian doing his best to try and rip my legs off via a mountain bike ride. Of course, I foolishly decided to join.

Like most mountain bike rides with Brian it starts out without a real ride plan. We decide to meet somewhere and then settle on a loop. This, puts Brian in the unique position to lure you in and then WHAM, you’re stuck. After all, you’re not going get all geared up and drive to the woods only to say, “No thanks, I’d rather not ride.” That’s just foolish. Instead, you begrudgingly go along and end up doing some ridiculous amount of climbing mixed with gnarly descents that leave you barely able to walk when the ride is done.

Brian typically tells me that rides like the one from this weekend are good for me. I’m still trying to figure out what good comes from being a few pedal strokes away from complete incapacitation. One would think the cushy university gig would make him soft but I think it just gives him time to figure out new and creative ways to bury me and the others foolish enough to join his cavalcade of misery.

Who Needs Enemies?

2010-05-30T16:33:00.000-07:00

So I have this friend, Andrea. She and I met a long time ago when I was working in Georgia. We worked at the same agency in with me starting about six months prior to her. Before she started working we got along fine. I helped her and her (now) husband move into their house and welcomed them to the area. Of course, once we actually were working in the same office our personalities clashed in a big way. I don’t know the technical term but basically we couldn’t stand each other. This continued for about six months but then one day we made amends and have been very good friends ever since. Of course, I use the term friends loosely in her case.

After a few years of working together Andrea decided to take a job in Harrisburg, PA just outside of where I grew up and where most of my family still lives. Since we were on better terms by this point I encouraged her to contact my family for help with moving and getting acclimated to the area. Again, this would seem to indicate a healthy and normal relationship, but it gets better. Now I’m living in the SC and travel frequently to visit my family (still in the Harrisburg area) so I see Andrea and her family quite often.

Nothing about this seems at all out of sorts but the relationship that Andrea and I have seemed to settle in on is one of antagonism and something I like to call my evil social conscience. Andrea has a way of putting me in my place. Now granted, it’s usually deserved but sometimes she’ll take matters into her own hands and goes out of her way to make things difficult at my expense. This almost exclusively happens regarding women. Even though we live about two hours away and she only knows a handful of the women I know (mostly because she introduced me) this happens more than I’d like and usually does not end well for me. Andrea likes to say that her second job in life is keeping me in line. I guess it’s kind of flattering since she’s a wife, a mother, has a high caliber job, and taking care of me is her second job but maybe that’s not much of a compliment.

I can say though, for all of our differences and angst in our relationship, I love her very dearly and cherish her friendship. Of course her husband is definitely the cooler half in that relationship and their daughter trumps them both. Also, she could win a few cool points if she wasn’t such a Barry Manilow fan.

Let's Ride

2010-05-23T20:05:00.000-07:00

As I’ve stated in previous posts, this year’s cycling season started extra early due to some unexpectedly warm weather in late March and early April. While I’ve been logging a good number of miles, I still feel like I haven’t been riding enough. Of course, this was all put into perspective when I was talking with Ieva. Upon her mention that she had been very negligent on her riding, I decided to kill two birds with one stone.

The main reason Ieva hasn’t been able to ride much is because she is a new mother and, as logic would dictate, spends the majority of her time being a mother. I got in touch with Ieva and told her that we were going to ride over the weekend. I explained to her that I had nothing planned for the weekend other than, at a minimum, spending time on the trails with her. If she was going to rebuff my riding request she was going to need a seriously bonzer reason. Based on this rigid criterion, Ieva had no real outs and was okay with being told she had to ride.

Saturday morning brought some early discussions about a possible ride plan and some general ranges on time. Since Ieva’s schedule is dictated by the ever adorable Anders, she didn’t really get much say in when things would occur. It was going to be a quick decision so all my gear was prepared in advance. At about eleven o’clock we pulled the trigger. I scooped Cathy en route to Ieva’s and by noon we were on the trail.

We didn’t do a very aggressive or long ride. It was the standard loop up Camp Trail; across the ridge; down Kettle; along Lower Lonberger; Three Bridges; and back to the Forestry Lot, so everything was very familiar. The main difference with this particular ride was the fact that Ieva was included. That made all my dabs and falls, and missed logs, and blown lines, and generally poor riding completely irrelevant. The important part was that Ieva had a great time and the pizza and beer that followed was proof enough for me.

Camp

2010-05-16T13:39:00.000-07:00

This past weekend marked the annual spring gobbler hunt and pig roast Brian hosts at his family’s camp. Usually camp officially opens on Thursday night with dinner and typically only a few people make it out therefore the Friday morning hunt is a small group. This year I decided to take a day off of work so I could hunt on Friday morning and enjoy some additional quiet time at camp. While I had never done an entire camp weekend (for any season) I had been out on several single day hunts so I had an idea of what to expect but I was in for a surprise.

So this was the weekend plan: get up early on Friday and hunt all morning, do some work at the cabin Friday afternoon and get a decent night of sleep. Saturday we would get up early to hunt and get back to the cabin before noon to prepare for the evening’s festivities. Even though Saturday was going to be more of a family environment, the two days prior would be full-on man camp. It would be all about shooting guns, playing cards, telling lies, drinking a beer or two, fishing at the pond and doing our best to shoot a turkey. Like most good plans though, there is always room for alterations.

So my abbreviated report of camp goes something like this: we ate way too much food that was way too salty, drank way too much beer, stayed up way too late, got up way too early, and had way too few vegetables (unless iced animal crackers count as a vegetable). I realize this is not the most detailed bit of storytelling but in my defense I’m not leaving out details because there is some code that you can’t talk about camp, it’s more because I don’t necessarily remember a whole lot more than that.

In the end though, it was a great weekend. Being out in the woods for a few days to hunt in the morning and relax on a porch in the afternoon isn’t a bad way to spend some time. As a final note I think it’s important to point out that no turkeys were harmed during the weekend of research for this post. In fact, no one even got off a shot, but it was still a lot of fun trying.

Bor-a-palooza

2010-05-09T17:36:00.000-07:00

Lately I’ve been catching some flak from a few of my fans about the lack of pizazz in my posts. This did not come as a new revelation to me. I, for the most part, lead a very simple and boring life. I can only write about snowboarding or mountain biking for so many weeks in a row without getting bored myself. I get the fact that I need to keep things interesting so people will keep coming back but let’s face it, I can’t be “on” all the time. Even clowns cry once in a while (which makes me more afraid of them).

In order to keep with my plan of posting every week I have to let a few duds slide through. Sometimes my quality control system is off but usually I know when a post is going to be poorly received. Sure I could skip a week or two when I can’t think of anything lively to write but I’d rather disappoint a few readers than let the blog languish for an extended period of time. Besides, if I skip one week what’s to say I’m not going to skip ten? Then where would we be? Being able to write what I want when I want is one of the benefits of being the author of this train wreck (actually, that is the only perk I’ve found to date).

So last week was my 100th post. That’s right 100 times I sat down and strung together a bunch of letters to form some sort of tale either true, false, or somewhere in between. Some posts have been funny while others have been downright dumb. I’ll let you form your own opinions about this post but I think I know how you’re going to feel.

I’ll Take Your Word For It

2010-05-02T18:22:00.000-07:00

So this past weekend I managed to get in a mix of both work and play. I accomplished a few projects in my yard and also managed to find some time to ride some trails. Sunday turned out to be a bit rainy and overcast but Brian and I decided to make the most of it and headed out for some suffering in Rothrock. I stopped by Spring’s house to pick up Brain but got briefly side-tracked by television and snacks. After about an hour of that we decided to rally and headed to the forest.

The ride was nothing special. It was humid and kind of rainy so by the end I was wet and slimy and in need of a shower. Instead, I decided to hang out at Spring’s for a bit to visit with Brian and Spring and enjoy some more snacks. After a bit, I excused myself from the table and went into the bathroom to blow my nose. As I went to discard the tissue I noticed something in the trash can that disturbed me to say the least. Now, I should mention that Brian and Spring are on the cusp of full-on cohabitation so, being a good friend (or at least a nosy one) I decided to inquire about the sight that was found at the bottom of the aforementioned waste receptacle because I thought it could be a deal breaker for their relationship.

What was the offending sight you ask? Well, at the bottom of the trash can were several cotton tipped swabs (sorry, no product placement here) with jet black ends. Being a person that cares about hygiene I have a box of cotton swabs that I use to clean out my ears so I assume others do the same thing. I figured it was important to inquire about the black ends in case one of the two individuals sitting in the other room had a serious inner ear issue because, while I’m not a doctor, I’m pretty sure that isn’t a good thing.

Once this discovery was made public, Spring began to spin a yarn about how she doesn’t have a steady hand when she puts on her mascara (most likely from all the wine she drinks) and has to remove the excess with the cotton swabs. Since I have no experience with mascara I decided to believe her. Also, I figured even if she was lying, I didn’t want to hear any other justification so with my curiosity appeased the conversation was promptly changed. After all, there are some explanations that should be accepted no matter what.

What Came First?

2010-04-25T18:33:00.000-07:00

So what did come first; the chicken or me? While I realize that’s a stupid question and really doesn’t make any sense at all, it’s the basis for something that seems to be all around me lately. The other day I was flipping through the four television channels that I get from my air signal and started watching a program about food and the process by which large agribusinesses have, for the most part, replaced the family farm in creating the majority of the produce and other food products that show up in the grocery store.

A day later I found myself watching a program about dirt and why it’s so important to everyday life. I found it odd that these programs with similar topic matter were being shown in close succession but the 40th anniversary of Earth Day was just this past week so I assumed that had something to do with it. Regardless of why it was being shown I was paying attention and found the general theme being presented a bit troubling and eye opening.

I never intended this blog to ever take on too serious of a tone and I don’t necessarily like the preachy undertones of this post but I was really taken aback by some of the processes and methods that get certain products onto people’s dinner tables. I found myself questioning every food choice I’ve made in recent memory. I didn’t want to eat another bite of anything until I knew exactly what brought it to me. I also began making a mental list of all the companies or products I wanted to make sure to avoid if even remotely possible.

I do my best to buy locally grown produce and other foods because it seems like a good idea. I also like to support local anything from bike shops to bands to restaurants. After watching these documentaries though I’ll being buying local because I feel safer knowing exactly where the sustenance I put into my pie-hole comes from.

What Do You Think?

2010-04-18T14:33:00.000-07:00

Recently I’ve noticed a trend in my day-to-day. I have a lot of really great ideas and a lot of fantastic thoughts. I realize this isn’t the type of discovery that would make Magellan jealous since most people probably think they also have great ideas. What makes me different is that I only have these ideas for about ten minutes a day. Now, you may be saying to yourself, “What’s the problem with that? Just write down these earth shattering thoughts when they come to you.” Well, that would be easy except I have these thoughts in the shower.

Yep, as soon as that hot water hits my flesh my mind goes into overdrive with ideas for things to do or stories to write or projects to develop at work or a witty remark to use on the next hottie that crosses my path or anything else in the grand scheme of the universe. Of course just as quickly as the mental stew begins, once the water is off, my mind goes back to pudding and I forget just about everything I thought about. I have to physically try to remember and then it’s usually only one or two of the really important (to me at least) ideas that I focus on.

Another problem I have is that so much is going on in my small mind that I often forget things over the course of the actual shower. This means I would need some kind of writing device that would be waterproof and allow me to scribe notes to myself while all lathered up. I don’t know if such an item exists, but it’d really make my life a lot easier. I guess my options are to figure out how to develop such a waterproof pen and paper set or spend the majority of my day in the shower. I don’t know which would actually be easier, but they both kind of sound fun.

Corrections

2010-04-12T08:14:00.000-07:00

It has recently been brought to my attention that certain information portrayed in a recent post has been taken in a malicious and hurtful way instead of the fun loving jovial manner that it was intended. The author would like to apologize for any misrepresentations, either written or implied. Furthermore, the author would like to note that his friendship with Spring has been effortless and one that is highly valued. Any indications to the contrary should be disregarded.

Pain & Suffering

2010-04-11T16:25:00.000-07:00

So as you may know from wasting time reading the nonsense that I write every week I participate in a lot of activities that keep me busy all year long. Most of these distractions have some degree of danger and can cause serious injury if not executed properly. It’s also safe to say that all these excursions cause me some degree of pain and suffering (of course being friends with Spring causes a lot of that as well, ZING).

Usually if something goes wrong when I’m out being radical I’ll end up with cuts or bruising and I’ll have some cool scars to show off. However, this weekend I was thrown for a loop. I was taking advantage of the primo weather and went mountain biking with some friends. I took a couple of spills but none were serious. Then, as we were getting ready to start the final section of singletrack my back decided to lock up and has been like that ever since. The pain has been excruciating and I’m not sure what caused it or how to make it go away.

Now, I’m held up on the couch with heat on my back trying to get things to loosen up so I can actually move around comfortably. I don’t know when this will end but hopefully it happens soon. If you don’t think I’m in pain, imagine how difficult it was for you to read this and focus that all into your lower back. See, I told you it hurts.

Goodbye Old Friend

2010-04-04T20:22:00.000-07:00

Well, it finally happened. After nearly seven great years of companionship I had to bid farewell to a trusted friend. Like most relationships, this was one of give and take. I did my best to tend to her needs and make sure she had everything to make her happy. She, in return, was always there for me; someone I could really count on.

However, like any healthy relationship there were a few rough spots. There was one time, on a trip to Vermont for a wedding, she almost left me stranded. Although after a little time and attention we were able to reconcile our differences and had a great time the rest of the trip. The entire time we were together she always accepted my friends and was willing to take me on all my adventures regardless of how crazy they may have been.

Unfortunately, this past week we had to part ways. I thought I was ready for a change but when everything was unfolding I questioned whether or not I was making the right decision. Of course, I’ve moved on and so will she. In fact, almost immediately I was cozying up with something new. Yep, I’ll miss my Jeep, but I’ll always have the memories.

Eat Like a Bird, Get Skinny Fast

2010-03-28T19:05:00.000-07:00

So my first mountain bike ride of the season didn’t quite go as planned. It was only going to be about an hour long ride after work but, because I flatted twice, I had to get a ride back to my car in the dark. This repetitive flatting perplexed me as I wasn’t sure why it happened. I was running the same tire pressure that I have for the last three seasons and the bike was set up the same but for some reason this ride was different. Then it dawned on me: I was getting flats because I had gotten fat. Due to this extra weight I figured I should explore ways to remove it or invest in rubber futures.

Recently I learned of the diet that the most intense guy I know lives by. Actually, to say Dave Case is intense is an understatement. I don’t think I know anyone who is more focused on getting the most out of every activity while also having fun in the process (all the while being a super nice guy). It’s hard to describe the type of person Dave is so I’ll use some analogies. Yes, I’m copying the idea of this next part from someone else but I think it applies quite nicely here too so please play along.

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When Dave goes mountain biking the rocks wear helmets.

When Dave goes surfing, the sharks put out Dave warnings.

People get sick because of the flu. The Flu gets sick because of Dave.

When Chuck Norris goes to sleep, he checks under the bed to make sure Dave isn’t there.

Telemark skis were created because you can’t contain any part of Dave, especially his heels.

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So I was talking with Herm the other day and he mentioned he had a copy of the diet that Dave created and, given my current propensity for flat tires, I was interested to know what it was all about. I thought maybe I’d give it a go for a little while and see if I couldn’t lose a few LBs. Of course, all of that changed once I actually saw what was required by this meal plan.

When I finished reading through the information I was in disbelief and thought (or actually hoped) I had missed a page or two. The document Dave prepared included a breakfast and a lunch that he eats everyday as well as several options for dinner. While I admire his dedication and discipline to follow this prescribed formula for super-human health, I realized his scientifically balanced nutritional map was a bit too advanced for me.

I haven’t completely written-off Dave’s guide for how to eliminate substance while still putting proper food in your system but when I read the words, “No Ice Cream, No Butter, and No Cheese” I decided it wasn’t my cup of tea (which isn’t allowed either). Quite honestly, I’m not sure how someone as active as Dave can survive on such a small amount of food per day but for the time being I’ll just plan to carry a few extra tubes.

The End & The Beginning

2010-03-21T19:36:00.000-07:00

It finally happened. This weekend marked the official end of the lift served central Pennsylvania ski season. The local hill held one last hoorah on Saturday to end what was one of the best years on snow we’ve had in recent memory. The temperatures stayed cold, we didn’t get our standard January thaw, and we actually got a goodly amount of natural snow. Alas, Mother Nature decided it was time to kick off the growing season and has been providing us with warm temperatures and rain; two things that don’t mix well with snow.

I can honestly say I’m not upset that the season has finally come to a close. It’s been a long winter and once the thaw started I began thinking about the cycling season. Spring is now officially here and the forest has been released from the grip of ice packed roads and snow covered trails. The roads are being cleaned of the leftover grit from snow treatments and the signs of the seasonal change are showing up everywhere.

I embarked on my first official mountain bike ride and road ride this weekend. Sure I’ve been riding occasionally over the winter but only on my townie cruiser so that doesn’t really count. They weren’t long rides but just enough to make me realize two things. First, I really miss riding and second, three months of snowboarding didn’t do much to prepare me for being on a bike.

It’s safe to say I have a lot of work to get back into cycling shape which means is I’ll get to spend more time pedaling around and why would I complain about that? While the snowboarding season is over we definitely had a good one. The official tally was 82 days of open slopes. Now, I’ll have a solid seven months to ride. It’s just one vicious series of crazy fun activity. I’m just glad I’ve got the other two months of the year to reorganize gear and rest.

Build Me an Ark

2010-03-14T17:16:00.000-07:00

I think it’s safe to say that this weekend was wet. A nice healthy rainstorm came in late Friday night and decided to stick around until early Sunday evening. Now that we’re into mid March the temperatures have warmed up but we still have snow on the ground. Well, I should say we did have snow. Thanks to the rain, what snow was left disappeared rapidly.

Normally the rain would put the kibosh on any type of outside activity but Herm and I thought it would be a good idea to go and explore the forest to see what kind of damage was being done by all the water and how badly the trails were getting washed out. We planned to do a short hike on the Owl Gap Trail to see what kind of condition it was in for riding and then drive around to assess the flooding. It’s safe to say we got more than we bargained for.

The roads getting into the forest were almost completely clear of snow and ice which was a bit of a surprise to both of us so we had very little trouble getting into the trailhead at Owl Gap. Of course, we did encounter a few downed trees across the road that needed to be moved and we had to pull one yokel’s car out of the mud but other than that things were just a bit sloppy but easily passable. We hiked the Owl Gap Trial in a mild rain. It was a little difficult to navigate the trail as it was now a stream running down from the ridge but we managed to make our way to the top. After we explored around on foot we decided to get back in the car and cruise some fire roads.

The amount of water running down trails, along roadside ditches, busting out of the hillsides, and raging through normally mild stream channels was mind boggling. It was so spectacular we decided to go back on Sunday to check a few more places. It’s was incredible to see what a healthy dose of rain mixed with snow melt could do. Hopefully the trails will dry out soon because it was nice to be back in the woods. However, next time I’ll be taking my bike.