This is Even More Hilarious

Okay, I know I haven't posted anything cycling-related in a while, but I just can't help myself, this is too wonderful. If you haven't seen the original Who's On First in a while, you might want to watch it first... Eve, you should be interested in this.

This is Hilarious...

Believe it or not, I just happened upon this website while searching for a very specific guitar item that had absolutely nothing to do with bicycles...

http://www.thebicyclingguitarist.net/multimedia/mov/piss-off-Bob.mov

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Boy, Am I Sore

It's been two days and I'm still struggling to walk normally. As great as cycling is for your leg muscles it just can't prepare you for walking through the mountains for seven hours. I guess that means I was right about the cross-training benefits, and I hope to be stronger than ever as soon as I can actually lift my leg over the bike.

Nothing much else to report. The Telluride Bluegrass Festival is happening as we speak. I think Bela Fleck is up next. I'm not going to see any of the acts, I was lazy about buying a ticket and they sold out. I've just been listening from my balcony.

I'll leave you with a song (nothing bluegrass about it, it just always makes me happy), enjoy.


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This One's Not So Short, But It's Worth It

Okay, today I finally did the Sneffels Highline Trail I mentioned a few days ago and it was amazing. Best SH ever! It's always a great day hike with spectacular views and challenging terrain, but today was extra fun for a very specific reason I'll get to in a minute. Oh yeah, don't be mislead by the title of this post, the length is mostly due to pictures and video.

I left the house at 10:15 and was at the trail head by 10:20 without ever setting foot in a car. I love this place. I was psyched to try out my new trekking poles. I'd never hiked with poles before, I I got them on sale from Black Diamond's website this winter. I have to say they make a huge difference by letting your upper body do a percentage of the work, taking a little stress off your legs.

So the views all along the trail (it's between 12 and 14 miles long, I think) are spectacular in virtually every direction, walking through the forest and over creek beds, looking up ahead at the San Sophia range,
for looking back at the ski resort and the Wilsons.

When I had climbed up into Pack Basin at around 11,000ft the snow started getting really deep and finding the trail became increasingly difficult. There was one set of tracks in the snow that helped me find my way for a while, but eventually I lost it and unfortunately had to strike out on my own. Don't tell anyone, it's very bad mojo to leave the trail. You're not even supposed to walk on the fringes to avoid muddy spots, because that just increases the scope of the fringes and leads to trail erosion and greater human impact. You're always supposed to be mindful of your impact on the area. Still, I did the best I could to stay with the trail but eventually it was completely obscured so I went where I thought I remembered the trail went.

Eventually I made my way over to the south facing aspect where there was less snow and I found the trail where it began zigzagging in the final push to the summit. Shortly after I had returned to the official trail I looked up and saw something amazing. For anyone who thinks I'm hardcore even a little, I tell you, you've seen nothing! A hundred yards or so above me I saw a runner sliding down the scree on his bum. He was wearing a t-shirt, shorts, socks, running shoes and nothing else. No backpack or hydration system, no cell phone, no hat, nothing.

When we passed each other he asked about the snow conditions. I explained where it got deep and mentioned that there were some tracks he could follow, and he told me he knew where the trail was and was used to the deep snow. Wow, okay. As he descended I watched him jog right up to snow fields and just casually walk through them, slipping down up to his knees, pulling himself out, and proceeding on as if he had just artfully dodged a manhole cover on a city street. Now that was impressive. It's also worth noting that the spot where he had been sliding down the scree, just below where he had summited from the other side, meant that he had come over a significantly higher point than where I would soon go over. This guy was something.


Anyway, here's the really fun part. Now, normally the immediate descent into Mill Creek Basin from the trail's highest point is a very steep, ill-defined scree field that takes a lot of very careful navigation while slowly and deliberately picking one's way down. Today, it was covered in snow. This is how I got down:

Now that was fun. Albeit rather cold and wet.

Okay, well, there isn't really much else to say about the rest of the hike. I got back a little after 5pm. I guess I'll just let the photos do the rest of the talking. Enjoy!

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This one's short, I promise...

Still haven't gotten over this throat thing. It's a little strange, it feels like i was punched in the windpipe. There has been progress though and I expect to be fine within the next two days. My ride today was short because it was difficult to swallow my water, so there's not much to report on that front.

However, a new website came my way (thanks, Lisa). Remember when I posted about runningmap.com and that I thought it was pretty cool even though you couldn't make your route conform to roads? Enter MapMyRun.com. Just like the other one but with an option to force the lines you're drawing to follow roads. Perfect! And you can easily browse routes that have been saved by other people in your area. Very cool.

Okay, that's all for now. Here's another Arches picture, just for the hell of it. I like this one because it looks like Ethan and Phil are rather awed.

P.S. Oh yeah, I got my business cards in the mail today. Whaddya think? If a stranger rode up on a bike and handed you a card like this, would you bother to read it? It's a bit disorganized in the way it throws information at you, but as long people can read the addresses...

Random Thoughts

It's been a while since my last update, and again, I apologize. My throat has been extremely sore for several days now and it's been difficult to make myself get out and ride, and the rides that I have done have been totally unremarkable. Fortunately, I think this cold is on its last legs, so I should be able to get back out there soon.

What I really want to do is go for a good hike for a bit of cross-training (not to mention that it's just plain fun to do, one of the best things about summer in TRide). There's a wonderful trail right out of town called the Sneffels Highline (so named for the view of Mt. Sneffels, one of the 14,000ft peaks here) that I haven't done since two days before I moved away in 2004. It's a loop that goes up above treeline with the highest point at just over 12,200ft, and through some gorgeous meadows and by a small waterfall. It's still too early for the wildflowers, which will be in full bloom when I'm on my ride in August, and I'll probably run into some snow, but it's a great way to spend a day. I might do it on Monday if I feel better. I'll take plenty of photos, as always.

So I was chatting with my friend Lisa just now and she made the point that there are so many other causes out there worthy of our action. If I may quote her, "It's pretty interesting how certain causes only gain public interest because someone famous says something about them (i.e. George Clooney, Angelina Jolie...). but unless people...actually make the effort to do something or [say] something, people forget, they move on. That's why it's important to stay engaged. Situations don't miraculously disappear because an oscar-winning actor holds a dying baby in Africa. It's vital that they do it, but we need to keep the message alive as well."

I think this is an excellent point. There are just too many (often tragic) things going on in the world, so many that none of us can cope with all of them. But it takes so little for each among us to stay aware and do what we can when we can. The world needs us. We can't all devote all our material wealth to ending disease, poverty, armed conflict, but we can certainly at least devote our attention. That's how things change, that's how people like Bill and Melinda Gates can be seen as heroes, not eccentrics, for doing what we all wish we could.

Anyway, I hate to seem preachy and I told myself I wouldn't turn this into a political blog, I just figured that the over-arching theme of this blog made this an appropriate forum to voice those thoughts. Okay, let's get back to the pictures. These are from a camping trip to Slickrock Canyon about a month ago or so.

Prettily striated rock formations abounded.

Behind me is where we built the campfire and spent most of the night, about 20 feet up the rock wall from where we parked. Coolest place I've ever had a campfire.

After we got to the campsite this guy shows up on a horse. He hung out with us till 3am playing music. How cool is that? The dog had fun tormenting the horse.


This was one of those one-in-a-million shots where I took a photo without a flash at the exact moment someone else took one with a flash. Not so interesting compositionally, but pretty neat nonetheless.

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Moab

Today's post has nothing to do with cycling or my training. I spent the weekend camping in Moab, UT and figured you might like to see some of the images anyway. I went with my roommate Kiley and two friends, Ethan and Phil, in Phil's Jeep. We found Kiley's favorite campground and from there we went jeeping in Arches National Park as well as an awesomely technical trail near our campsite called Cliffhanger. Here's our little shanty town:

Look! Arches!

Cliffhanger was rated as the fifth most challenging 4x4 trail in the area. It took us about two and half hours to go just 3.8 miles. This was my first experience four wheeling. Pretty amazing with the right vehicle. Phil's Rubicon Unlimited was complete with the burly lift kit and heavy duty winch. The video I took was near the beginning of the trail at the first major feature. You can really see the articulation in the suspension going down that step. We got much better at route finding and adjustment later on, so we didn't scrape bottom too many more times.

This what we had to do help the jeep make it over the steeper steps and keep the tailpipe from hitting going down.

Here's a view of what the "road" looked like most of the way.

Jeep commercial?

It was a very fun weekend and we plan to do more like it, but I am looking forward to getting back on the bike tomorrow. On a side note, I think I'm coming down with a little cold (my throat has been sore for a couple of days). I hope it won't last too long.

I'd also like to simply thank everyone that has donated to the LAF and everyone that has left me a comment here. You guys rock and it's really helping me to keep pursuing this. This won't be the last time I thank you all, but I just wanted you to know how much it means to me.

Salut!