Archive for the ‘Booze’ Category
Dank is like my security blanket
Thursday, July 22nd, 2010Wreck’d on the Umpqua
Friday, July 9th, 2010Where do I live? I live in paradise. It seems like around every bend is another beautiful mountain, river, trail, or valley. I truly am a lucky man. My luck also has something to do with working for myself. Which means that when I received the call from R Kelley about a four day mountain bike adventure in Southern Oregon, I didn’t have to ask the boss for the time off. Well actually I had to ask the wife, she’s really the boss.
And so Friday morning we loaded up the bus, and ventured south on I5. Somewhere around Sutherlin we exited and worked our way up the mountains. The campsite we found wasn’t very private, but there was a small loop to ride around and the hot springs were just a short hike away. After four hours in the bus, and what seemed like two in the market stocking up, sitting in the sulfur water was amazing.
Bright and early the next morning, before the hippies descended and before we hit the trails we spent a little more time in the tubs. If I could soak before every ride, I think I would. But we didn’t drive all this way to sit in hot tubs all day. We came to ride.
We were camped at the bottom of the “Dread and Terror” section, so we took the gravel road to the top. Thirteen miles of loose gravel in the hot sun.
When we finally hit the turn off, Mason and I were greeted by a mint Westfalia that looked much like Marv, but in much better condition. It was indeed a sign of good things to come.
Down the road a bit, before the trail started we crossed Lemolo Lake and got a great view of Mt. Thielson. Another half mile down the road we found the trail.
About a mile and half after dropping in we paused to check out Lemolo Falls. A 102 foot tall waterfall that we sat on top of. I climbed down to the edge to find an beautiful site. I have never seen colors so vivid before. We put our feet in the water, ate some food, and stared at the waterfall for quite some time.
Having ridden only a mile of singletrack all day, it was finally time to start moving. While I never felt dread or terror, this thirteen mile section of trail was a doosie. Technical rock sections, multiple streams running down the trail, constant ups and downs, and steep drop offs into the river far below made this a long day in the saddle.
Close to the bottom, on the brink of running out of drinking water, we came across a pool of turquoise water. I must have stared at this pool for a good ten minutes. I’m thirty years old and I’ve never seen colors like this. It might have been the dehydration, the beer, or the grass, but everything in Oregon looks good.
The next morning we broke camp and headed towards Oakridge. Highway 138 comes ten miles from Crater Lake, and being the tourists that we are, we tacked the extra miles on to get a couple pictures.
We finally made it to the bottom of the Alpine trail, set up camp and shuttled to the top. I know what you’re saying, and I would have gladly ridden to the top, but this is a democracy we live in. I gave in and was happy sit on my ass the whole way up the mountain.
It’s been a couple years since I last rode this trail and wasn’t quite sure where the drop in was, so when I finally found it I celebrated with a “frosty” beverage while I waited for the others to arrive. From there on out it was nothing but yeehaws! and woo hoos! all the way to the bottom.
I offered this trail in contrast to the Umpqua section we rode the day earlier and it was met with much fanfare.
Back at camp we broke into the Four Loko. By Ryan’s suggestion we bought four of these horrible cans. Fruit punch and blue raspberry. I pretty much blacked out after I took this photo. I also poured some on the shrimp we were cooking. This is a great way to make sure you feel like shit the next day.
In the morning, with the sweet taste of hangover a couple of us rode up the mountain to take one more swing at the trail. Two hours of climbing in the sun was rewarded with an hour of shaded descent. At the bottom, Mason was ready to roll, I was exhausted, and the reality of it being Monday started sinking in. We had to go home. When you work for yourself, you can’t blame the lack of production on anyone else.
God damn I love Oregon.
Summer sun + beer + racing = ouch my head
Tuesday, June 15th, 2010Frankly, I should know better. But that doesn’t stop me from doing it over and over. After a prolonged wet season (which doesn’t seem to be giving up) we finally got a weekend of sun here in Portland. Two weeks after the Westside the remainder of the food was bbq’d at Ken’s while we watched the Mississippi Crit. Sitting right on the course we spent a couple hours drinking, heckling, and shouting.
As can be expected, the sun fried our collective brains and bad ideas became good ideas. Tradition stands for something right?
Full of meat-on-a-stick and number of tall boys I headed home to prepare for the 6 hours of Mt. Hood.
We woke up at 5 and hit the road at 5:30. The weather was top notch the whole day. Hot in the sun, but a nice breeze kept the staging area cool for the most part. The course had a good flow, although the climbing started to really wear me down by the 5th lap. By lap number 6 I had reached my goal and felt perfectly ok with calling it a day. The other riders in the solo singlespeed category did more laps, but I was really only racing myself. Being that this was my first “endurance” race I kept a reasonable pace and enjoyed the work.
Team Beer had a strong group out, most notably being that English fellow who completed 8 laps from what I understand. And he was part of a two man team. Balls!
After the sixth lap I devoured a giant burger and polished off a couple beers. I was babbling, exhausted, and in a state of euphoria. Partly sad it was over, partly looking forward to next week.
Finally we made our way down the mountain. I was drained. Misia was sunburned. We were both happy that we had spent a nice day in the mountains among friends, but it was amazing to get home and pass out.
It’s not about the hitpoints right now.
Friday, June 4th, 2010The final Westside Invite has come and gone. There was one large “Cool Guy” style hill, but no somersault races were to be had. It was a weekend filled with good riding, good weather, good friends, and a couple strip clubs thrown in for good measure.
First off these guys showed up late Friday night. Instead of tracking down the shitshow we headed back to the house and caught up on old times. These guys own the only courier company in Reno, Bootleg Courier and they’re fast as hell.
Saturday we headed to the group ride, but found ourselves at the Triple Nickel first. The Seattle shitshow had arrived and was in full force. After a couple bloody mary’s and some pork sodas we aimed for the park where the main group ride was headed.
Not feeling like riding, we instead detoured to Sassy’s. I’ve been there before on a Saturday night and it was great. 1pm though? Yeck. This was all Corndog’s idea.
Around that time I got a call from the wife. My long awaited new bike had arrived and was sitting in a box waiting for me to unpack. I’ve been in the market for a new road bike and this one fell into my lap. It helped me during the mainrace which netted me a new Thomson Elite seatpost, which replaced the setback that came with the bike. It now fits perfectly, and boy it hauls ass.
New bike in hand I caught up with the re-formed group ride. By the time I arrived at Mt. Tabor, the shitshow was in full effect. From atop the maintenance shed the view was breathtaking. Grass slides, can tossing, bike crashing good times. Those with weak stomachs should not click this link.
By this time the troops needed food, so naturally we ambushed a taco truck. After which we made a move to Matt and Clair’s to watch the hockey game. Refueled, rested, and ready for more we headed to the goldsprints. That place Migration had a cool outdoor area, but man did they hate us. And why not, they had a couple hundred rowdy drunk messengers to deal with. But in all honesty, they were dicks. The goldsprints were awesome though. We made the male finalists take their pants off.
Which of course the crowd loved.
And now it was getting late, which meant most of us were ready to swerve home. One broken collarbone later we made it there – sorry Chad… The next morning we all felt a tad rough, but so it goes. We headed into the bright sunny Sunday morning and headed for the start of the main race.
Ross and I worked together, towing a large group behind us for the majority of the race.
After pushing the pace up and up during the race, we notched it even further into the red a couple blocks from the finish(Rose City Park). It was there that we were handed one final manifest directing us to the top of Rocky Butte. Utterly drained, Ross and I motored up the hill and back down to take 7th and 8th(or so I’ve been told). A couple burgers, some beers, and a rest in the grass were sorely needed. But eventually we headed into Old Town for the awards ceremony, but not before a stop at the Magic Gardens. A fortuitous stop for a couple people I believe.
Finally the night started heading to a close as prizes were handed out for various feats of stupidity and Matt showed off his underpants.
The gift that keeps on giving. And giving.
By this time it was getting old. We were all tired and each made our way to our holes for the night. The next morning at polo the majority of the Seattle shitshow had already headed north. Polo happened and some guys won some belts or something. I went home and fell asleep. The last Westside was amazing.
Fireball!
Where’s Tom Cruise?
Friday, June 4th, 2010So that tour didn’t go as planned. I’ve got a full report coming. Until then, enjoy the above. Yikes.
I’m going on tour
Friday, May 28th, 2010
The 10th and last Westside Invite is starting in a few hours and will be over Monday afternoon.
Tuesday morning I’m headed out on a short tour. Four days starting in Portland and ending in Seattle, where I’ll catch a train back home. I’m headed out to the coast, and then back east, eventually jumping on a ferry in Bremerton.
After a weekend of drunken riding, racing, and bullshitting, I’m going to need those four days to get it all out of my system.
The focus of this short tour? Eating well. No dehydrated ziploc food. Nothing but the freshest of vegetables and meats and local food. I promise to have photos and thoughts when I get back.
Until then, with a beer in hand I welcome the weekend.
Step throughs, roots, beers, traffic, and the wind in my hair.
Sunday, April 18th, 2010And it’s pretty decent, If you can find the office to fill out the paperwork. It took some searching but I finally found it. Ten euros to get started, 5 for the card, 5 for the initial loading.
Once you sign the documents you can find a bike. From our apartment there are a couple locations, none of which are very close. The closest being right near the forum and coliseum. I didn’t want my first ride to be in such a hectic place so I headed east and found a bike in a much more typical city setting.
I had chosen a large park as my outing as I figured I could find some dirt to pedal on. It’s been 14 days since I was atop a bike and I’ve been missing the dirt immensely. The park I found, Villa Ada is Rome’s largest.
The park is filled with wide dirt paths that circle around and criss-cross each other.
Eventually I took a break for a sandwich and a couple beers along the little lake.
After a light lunch I set out to find some singletrack. While I didn’t find much, I did come across a couple little ribbons that were obviously for two wheels. One wound around a horse compound and dropped right back to the lake I had lunch at. On a cruiser bike with marginally functional brakes, this was a real thrill. I wouldn’t suggest a cruiser for going uphill, but downhill was awesome.
I’ve still got 4 euros left on my card so I think I’m going to take another couple spins this week. 50cents per hour is a pretty good deal for a bike.
Two of the nastiest beers I’ve had here – so far
Saturday, April 17th, 2010Up around the corner from our apartment is a bulk-type store. Not like costco back home. This is still relatively small, but things are cheap. It was here that I found some interesting looking beer.
Castello is really really sweet. Misia seemed to like it, or she took on for the team and finished the three pack it came in.
Oranjeboom was just odd. There was a hint of citrus I think or it might have just been the alcohol content. If I recall correctly it was less than a euro for a tall can. I won’t be buying this again.
As it stands we’ve been sticking to the Peroni, Birra Morretti, and Nastro Azzurro. All winners. Getting back to Portland and “craft beers” is going to be very interesting.
Even savvy travelers get hustled sometimes
Thursday, April 8th, 2010I live in Portland. For the last six months it’s been grey, cloudy, and wet. The rare moments of sun were welcomed because they didn’t stay. There wasn’t enough time to get sunburned or worn out by the bright light. It’s been 70 and sunny the last couple of days here in Rome. Now I’m not complaining; walking for hours on end in the rain would be super lame, but man does the sun wipe you out. What started as a quick walk to the Pantheon ended up being a five hour journey. Every time you think you’ve seen something impressive, another corner awaits with something even more breathtaking.
We made it to the Pantheon yesterday at 8:30 just as it opened. I think we’ve figured out our new strategy. It was EMPTY. I mean like three guards, a couple other tourists and us.
We walked to the back of the plaza to get a good overall view of this building. It’s covered in scaffolding, but the fountain in the center was pretty impressive. All over Rome are obelisks that were looted from Egypt and erected in the city. This one had some vicious looking duck things. Dig the double tongue spout.
Upon walking into the Pantheon my jaw dropped. As like most things here, books only show you so much. Standing in this building is more than overwhelming. Built more than two thousand years ago, this place defies understanding.
That’s poured concrete up there. The ceiling is open, and the floor is convex so that the rain goes to the gutters. Originally built for the most important gods in Roman culture, it went through some pretty rough times and is now a church. The tomb of Raphael is here as well.
After spending some time here and signing our names in the guestbook(?!) we found our way to another plaza. There are three Bernini fountains here, the largest and most impressive being under construction and behind a boarded wall. There were windows to peak through, but the glass ruined all attempts at pictures.
I don’t know if I’d hold a spear that close to my boys, but it sure looks wicked.
Not quite feeling tired yet we decided to find the Vatican. Impressive as it was, we didn’t go through the security to get into the piazza. The tourists at the Vatican seemed different and more subdued, probably because it holds more meaning to Catholics than ancient ruins do. It was filled with people and some alpine horns were being played. It was odd. We’re going to make another trip there next week to see the basilica and the Sistine Chapel.
Heading north we got a sandwich and a Beck’s and rested our feet for a while in the park surrounding Hadrian’s tomb. The tomb was more like a fortress, with 50′ walls.
Finally feeling tired we headed east towards home. Knowing that the crowds were starting to thicken we tried to avoid the Coliseum so we tried a northern approach. This ended up taking 2 and a half hours….
Eventually we found ourselves at the Piazza del Popolo which was incredible. Everything in Rome is built with a purpose. From the obelisk in the center of the piazza you can look down the center road to the Capitol. Flanking the main road are two arteries that fan out diagonally. Everything(almost anyway) is built in a series of three. The churches were built to perpetuate the design. Nothing is too much, no detail is too extravagant. Immediately after this photo I turned to see Misia with three roses in her hand and a vendor asking me for money. He told her they were gifts, but he ended up bugging me until I gave him 1,50. After the 5 euros I found the other day, I’m still up. Not wanting to be seen as a “mark” we ditched the flowers and called it even. It’s annoying being seen as a target, especially when you try your damnedest to avoid eye contact and keep your hands to yourselves. Don’t even get me started on the gladiators with swords…
Eventually we found our way back to the apartment with a quick stop at the market. I still haven’t tried all the beers yet, but we’re getting closer.
And while this isn’t beer, I couldn’t help but buy this vodka. John, my father-in-law likes the vodka, and after we polished off his last bottle the other night we felt we’d pick up another one for him. Turns out this was the only bottle in the Tabbach next to our apartment. Fuzzy vodka!
Today we’re taking it easy. Maybe a museum or two, but Misia’s mom has the day off and we’re going to lay low. Right now all I can think about is Roubaix.
Europe on spring break and the throngs of wandering idiots
Tuesday, April 6th, 2010The sun is out today. In full force. Hovering around 65 degrees for the better part of the day with not a cloud in sight. Two days after easter and Rome seems like the Daytona Beach of Europe. Want to see the forum? 1 hour wait. Want to see St Pauls? 2 hour wait. We’re not suckers. We know that being here for three weeks will pay off when the students head back to their respective countries. But I’m not going to pretend that the crowds will disappear.
We have a new plan of action starting tomorrow. Keeping inline with the rest of the Romans we’ll be up early to take care of business, then lounging in the apartment during the heat of the day. Finally we’ll hit the town at night to soak up some good times.
Having only seen images of Rome in movies and books, it’s hard to grasp that I’m here. We walked for four hours today. Around the Coliseum(our apartment is a mere four blocks away) around the Forum, around the Circus Maximus, up to the Pantheon, stumbled upon the Trivoli fountain, down to the Tiber, and finally back home. Casual walking, no destination in mind. Turn one corner and you find yourself in front of a 800 year old church. Turn another and you’re in front of the French Embassy. Living in a small town like Portland is nice, but this is the big city.
We are really looking forward to our trip to Paris. With Cancellara pulling the Ronde out of his hat I’m betting Boonen will be in prime form. As much as I’d like to see Hincapie finally win this damn thing, I think the ego blow Boonen took last Sunday will fuel that fire. Either way, we’ll be there shouting at them at their faces.
The bicycle situation is pretty interesting. We saw a group of about 20 german tourists on rental bikes hauling balls and a few die hard riders, but in the old city, biking is pretty rare as far as we can tell. And I don’t blame people for not riding here. The traffic is crazy, but predictable. It’s the tourists that would lead me to avoid this area. The sheer number of people and their unpredictability that is scary. We did see this bike sharing system though.
As we walked home from the Tiber, we made our way through some ruins with no name. Kind of like the Forum, minus people. In the twenty minutes we spent there we passed maybe 10 people. And we were only across the street.
I’m still finding new beers to try as well. Mostly everything in a bottle or can is a lager of some sort; most of which are pilsners. My favorite so far is Peroni, but Faxe is pretty intense(might just be the 1000ml can).
Also good is Tuborg. I’ve got a couple more in the fridge getting cold which I’ll share in my next post.
For now we’re headed to dinner. Apparently we’re in store for some authentic Roman seafood. I’m going for the squid ink.
Vorrer due birre per favore
Monday, April 5th, 2010We left Portland at 12:30 on Saturday and got into Rome around 1 on Sunday. Smooth flights, bad movies, microwaved food. The usual.
After a long/slow train into the city we caught the subway to Coliseo, which is right at the Coliseum. Duh.
After a 5 minute walk from the Coliseum, we found our apartment. And boy what digs. This place is bigger than our house and there’s marble floors. And marble tiles in the bathroom. And a bidet.
This morning we woke up, had some coffee at our cozy little breakfast table.
Afterwards we headed out for the day.
Seeing these buildings in art history books and in movies doesn’t prepare you for actually standing below them.
The Coliseum is impressive. More impressive were the crowds. We didn’t go inside, but from the outside the people inside were pressed against the sides. Admittedly we are here the during the easter holiday. Today was also a national holiday, so the crowds are out in force.
Finding an open grocery store was a bit of a tall order as well. The three we knew of were not open, so we walked until we found one. Wine is cheap. Really cheap. What would be a $10 bottle in the states goes for about 1,50 euro. And it’s delicious.
I’ve been looking at bikes when I see them, but there’s not much to report on. Mostly dutch style cruiser things, cheap department store bikes, and the weekend warrior choice seems to be mountain bikes.
I did spy one awesome Colnago though…
On the way home from the market we found a small stall in our building that had opened for the afternoon.
It’s nice having a beer store in your building.
Tomorrow we’re headed west to the Vatican and possible Tiber Island. Saturday we leave for Paris to catch a Sunday morning train to Roubaix. It really is a rough life.
New Content. New outlook on life.
Thursday, March 4th, 2010It’s time someone stepped forward and said enough is enough. I’m not sure that’s me, but hell, I stare at a computer all day now so I might as well do something productive.
Velograph is back.