Park beer. Secret case. Ipod with built-in speakers. Lay in the sun and forget it all.
Archive for August, 2010
How to fix a crappy day
Tuesday, August 31st, 2010Rickreall in August
Monday, August 30th, 2010Man I get to slackin when summer is around. If I had to do this as part of my job I’d probably be a little more punctual, but hey, you’re getting what you pay for.
So what was it, a couple weeks ago already? We went to Rickreall for Justine’s birthday and there were a ton of metal people I didn’t know. It was kind of cool to be around a bunch strangers. I would estimate around six of us were of the bike persuasion amongst the fifty to sixty metalheads. It was pretty fun and I think we all got along great.
We parked Marv out in between the hazelnut orchard and the wheat field, which is hands down the best spot at the farm. Waking up with the view of the coast range is always a pleasant treat.
Cory showed up a little while after we did and we proceeded to tear up the pump track with Ryan.
It was then that I realized that I had brought a bunch of hot dogs to the grill and forgot all about them until a couple hours later. So I ate a couple clif bars. Not the best way to fuel a night of drinking, but it did the trick.
When the sun went down the bands started turning up the volume. It was pretty wicked watching a metal show in the woods. The only band I watched was Cull who were nothing short of awesome. I believe this was the first show of a multi city tour, so that was even cooler.
That’s what I remember about that weekend. Oh and I rode home on Sunday from the farm. The hangover I built on Saturday gave way after sixty miles and that was it. Summer is almost over though.
This museum is full of stuff that shoots bullets and drops bombs – Go America!
Saturday, August 21st, 2010Sometimes you have to leave the office, take a drive down 99w, and spend three hours looking at planes. Yesterday was the perfect day for doing just that. So I picked up Case and Adam and we pointed Marv south/southwest. When driving down Hwy 18 the four buildings look large, but not giant. When you get closer though, the buildings tower, and once inside it’s obvious why.
As we walked from the parking spot, we noticed a group of tanks over on a bluff. So we checked em out. Before we were even 100 feet away, Adam was calling out model numbers and explaining to other visitors that they were all Russian tanks. He’s a smart guy and he knows his shit.
I think this may have been my favorite vehicle in the group.
But we weren’t there to look at tanks, although they’re awesome. We stepped inside and immediately were overwhelmed by the giant plane taking up the entire hangar. That would be the spruce goose, which is impossible to take pictures of in it’s entirety. So, here’s the tail. The small tail below it is from an F4, which is a largish fighter jet itself.
They let you check out the inside, but you can’t really explore too much. The H4 is actually made of Birch, and was made of wood due to the war effort. It flew for a couple miles at around 25 feet above the water. Amazing.
Moving on to other pieces of the museum now. A replica of the plane the Wright Brothers created was really cool. The use of chainrings, and chains, and bicycle hubs was really cool. In fact, the engine used to power the first airplane was built by the Wright Bros bicycle shop mechanic. He built the engine in six weeks from crude drawings. He died a poor man.
Eventually we made our way to the B17 Bomber. For a few extra dollars, you get a personal tour of the plane. We took them up on the offer. Apparently I’m the right size for the two worst jobs on a B17 – the ball turret gunner, and tail gunner. Damn my 5’8″ frame.
After the B17 we were all a bit overwhelmed. But we still managed to check out the rest of the hangar. This guy must have been a real badass.
The Evergreen Air Museum is well worth the $20 I have to say. The story behind the museum and it’s founder make me wonder how much they’re really telling, but the result is a great collection of historical achievements. After sitting in traffic to get back to Portland, I was desperate to get on the bike, and as soon as I got home I jumped on the cross bike and headed north for beer and beer related activities. It was awesome.
I don’t like Michael Jackson, but I loooove Darth Vader
Friday, August 20th, 2010Finding similar interests in upside down countries
Thursday, August 19th, 2010Found this site Double O 2 through La Gazzetta this morning. Another ex courier with an eye for layout. He’s got a lot of great images, but these stood out from the rest. I’m sure you’re aware by the lack of fixed gear upskirt shots, that I don’t take pictures of hot whips very often. This site shares a lot in common with the woah obviously.
So yeah.
Ten degrees cooler in the woods – times 2
Tuesday, August 17th, 2010Let’s try this one more time. Yesterday’s post disappeared.
It’s been really hot here in Portland. Anything above 80 degrees is when it gets uncomfortable. So when it hits the high 90′s for a couple days in a row, all motivation comes to a halt.
But we’ve been working on a rock wall for the last couple of months and the plan was to finish it this weekend. So heat or not, we started out early on Saturday and Sunday and got it done.
We forgot to take a before picture, so this is from Google Maps.
So, working an hour here and an hour there this took us about two months. Now it’s ready to grow food.
Having accomplished all this, and being done at noon, I started getting antsy. It was really hot, but I needed to get out of the house. So I packed up Marv real quick like and headed to the Sandy Ridge.
If you haven’t been there, or it’s been a while, you’ll be impressed with the new infrastructure. Not only have they finished the bridge over Little Joe Creek, but they’ve installed signage, and built a map kiosk at the top.
I had been wanting to check out the new Three Thirty Eight Loop, and today proved to be a great day for that. Despite the temperature being a good ten degrees cooler than Portland, it was still really hot. After ducking into the woods, I quickly found a good sitting rock and refueled. Chamois heart!
The new loop is still undergoing development, but already shows signs of great design. I’m really anxious to see how this develops. Moving onto Hide n Seek, I found the trail in great shape, at least up top. The bottom section has a lot of pitting, but i think that’s due to the high levels of use and little to no rain to keep things solid. Currently the lower half feels very sandy. But up top still throws great riding. I really like the little root pops they’ve built the trail around. If you hit this one on the left side aiming right, it drops you into a perfect line for the berm coming up. It’s really sweet.
Things like this encourage faster riding and soon after I met my trail nemesis and we battled again.
See, near the bridge there’s a berm that feeds a sharp left turn that hides a large root that sits about two and a half feet high. It doesn’t sound like much, and I’ve cleared it many times, but recently it’s been giving me a hard time. Today it took another pot shot and I went overboard. But I’m not discouraged. I’ll be back soon enough to try it again.
From there I dropped over the bridge and rode the lower half of Hide n Seek a couple times before heading home. Driving home, Marv was running smoothly, the sun was really golden, and that post mountain bike glow was in full effect.
That ship has sailed, or how to not break bones at the Dead Baby Downhill
Friday, August 13th, 2010So it’s Friday the 13th. A full week since we were in Seattle. Sometimes when I get back from a trip I’ve been waiting on, it’s hard to write about it or put photos up. I think I get a tad depressed when it’s all over and I have to go back to work. So I sit on the material for a bit, muse about what went on, and then half-ass a post about the whole thing.
So last Friday Jose, Misia, and I took Marv to Washington. We left on time, and thanks to Marv’s cruising speed, arrived at the Tapeworm around 1pm. (Marv likes to take breaks.) I don’t like getting within 20 miles of the Worm without stopping by, and seeing as how Messman couldn’t make the weekend trip, we felt it was a great compromise. The outer trails are really overgrown, and the majority of the wooden features in the Tapeworm are broken, but the trail was still fun. I think the best thing possible for this trail would be a temporary closure. Close out the trail for a couple months and the vegetation will come back, bringing the twistiness back to the original design. Just sayin.
After a couple laps we headed into Seattle to secure our lodging and prepare for the party. You know, the Dead Baby Downhill? Or as I’m referring to it (sort of) as the “party where I don’t know half these people.” Having left Seattle two years ago, the changes in personnel, styles, and manners are evident. We had a swell time though.
But a visit to Seattle isn’t the same without a stop by the Monorail, and Wa Leg. Being race day, it was a quiet affair. We jetted quickly.
Finally on top of the hill, surrounded by hundreds of like minded people on bikes. And somewhere around 7 we took off. A mad dash down Capitol Hill, through the International District, and finally to Georgetown, on our mountain bikes. We came for the party, but stayed for the dirt riding. I shared a couple beers during the ride and enjoyed a nice pull of scotch as well.
Now if you’re reading this, you probably remember when I broke my foot at the Westside last year. Yeah, that was awesome, and it really served as a wake up call. Not the stop-drinking-in-the-morning kind of wake up call, but more along the you’re-not-21-anymore line. Since then I’ve healed and more importantly I’ve cut down on the drunken showing off. It really does nobody any good. So with that in mind I ate some food upon arrival in Georgetown, and then proceeded to drink the beer out of my bag, as opposed to waterbottles filled with Manny’s. That shit is heavy, for reals. But I still managed to burn the candle at both ends – responsibly.
At some point Ross called me up and told me to join him for some pizza at Stellars, and within a half an hour I was feeling tops. Ready to roll, because I’m not a big fan of large drunken crowds. I must be getting old, or just cranky.
Early the next morning we awoke on the top floor of a beautiful home on the hill. The sky was grey, the wind was cool, and our hangovers gave up after being bullied by coffee, bacon, eggs, potatoes, and toast. Our wonderful hosts took very nice care of us. Such great friends! But they had a camping trip, and we had a camping trip, and well, they were in different places.
So! We went south. It rained. Hard. The driver side windshield wiper fell off on I-5. We fixed it with a ziptie. Yep! And onwards to Enumclaw, a stop for beer, forties, corndogs, and camping food at the Safeway. A stop at the bike shop for a lost disc brake mounting bolt(Misia is a shredder) and we were finally in the woods.
We met up with Todd, Quon, Cory, and Ross, and soon enough we had Mason, Billy, and Lockwood in tow. An “easy” ride came about and we headed out.
A quick ride turned into a race to the end of Skookum Flats. Flat? No. Technical as can be? Yes. Sweet? Yes. Did you bring any food? No. Bummer. But Billy on the rigid Trek with the Ritchey Pro Logic fork killed all of us. Surprised? Nope.
On the way back we bumped into Littel, Meg, and Shu, and due to our low blood sugar induced mental state, didn’t even recognize em. haha. And upon arrival in camp we were greeted by Chuck and Gerg, and Damian. What a great reception. We made chili with bacon and cheese, ala Devlin and the night was amazing.
In the morning we milled about, made breakfast, and prepared the shuttle to the top of Ranger Creek.
Photo by Gerg who was also kind enough to cook all weekend.
A couple thousand feet later, at the tree line, we prepared the bikes for the ride of the weekend. But not until one more group photo.
And finally we rode some bikes on a big trail.
The initial idea of Noble Knob gave way to unbridled speed, and I was the only rider to make the journey. So much for waiting at intersections. Haha. Beautiful views though, even if it was socked in by fog. But that’s always the case on the Knob.
Palisades was ignored on a time-restraint so we went full bore into Ranger Creek. The chase was on, and you wouldn’t believe so many ex messengers could ride so fast. But holy shit, we burned that trail down. Lockwood blowing minds, and Littel off a recent broken thumb. Good stuff!
And eventually we made it back to camp. With the weekend drawing to a close, and a four hour drive in front of us, we packed up Marv and headed home. Over the passes, on the east side of Rainier and finally back to I-5 just in time for Exit 63 chicken. Perfect.
Photo by Misia.
And here I am a week later, remembering the good times. A week has past, but there’s riding on the horizon. Like Sunday. That sounds like a perfect time to get some of that good bacteria in. I’ll take all I can get.
And last but not least, welcome home Cthulhu Seattle!
Death comes for you on a trike
Thursday, August 12th, 2010
Mind the soap Lance
Thursday, August 12th, 2010Reposted from La Gazzetta della Bici.
The Dead Baby Downhill goes hi def
Wednesday, August 11th, 2010I spotted myself in the first bit. What a great time and a good reminder that I hate large crowds of people I don’t know. But I’m a hermit that way.
And now from the archives. Issue 1
Monday, August 9th, 2010I once started a magazine called Cranked. I assembled a small group of friends and thanks to a favorable work environment we put out four issues of local cycling culture focused on Seattle and Portland. After three issues of cheap printing we bit the bullet and put out a large sum of money for issue number 4. Faced with a shrinking economy and the fact that our advertisers were as broke as we were, we decided to put it to rest. We had put out four action packed issues and I felt great with what we had done.
It was a short while later that two of us sold our interests to the last remaining member of the Cranked crew. He put out one more issue and then put it to bed, presumably due to the cost of producing a color magazine with a shoestring budget and small readership.
So four years later I’ve been looking through those old magazines, what I have left mind you, and thought that maybe, just maybe, someone might be interested in seeing what we once did. This was before Cog became the great publication that it is. We did it on our own, without the approval of management, behind closed doors, and on our own time. I’m very proud of what Cranked did for me, and I’m pretty sure the other two are as well.
Disclaimer: Cranked is no longer produced. It hasn’t been in print since 2006, so advertisers and content is way out of date. This is only for posterity. I did this.
Click the image to see a larger version, or click to download the pdf here! All images open in new tabs for easy viewing.
Into the woods | Four years later
Friday, August 6th, 2010So we’re headed to Seattle for the day/night. Dead Baby Downhill year number 14. Yikes.
And tomorrow we’re leaving Seattle early to head south to Ranger Creek. The forecast calls for rain, but by god I’m riding the Palisades and I’m going to stand on the top of the Noble Nob. That is unless there is lightning. In that case I’d have to be a first class idiot to stand on top of an exposed rock formation on the top of a mountain. But hopefully it doesn’t rain so we get a good view of Rainier.
Either way, tomorrow is my four year anniversary with my wife and that is awesome. Best decision I’ve ever made.
Back on Sunday! The first preseason game of football is going on that day. Which means fuck-all, but at least football is back on.
This kid rules.
Thursday, August 5th, 2010My milkshake
Wednesday, August 4th, 2010
Two environments | Two reasons to daydream at work.
Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010
