The first ride of the rest of my life

Yes, if you had checked earlier it did say only eighteen and a half laps completed in the trail this year. And if your math is superb, you would know that there has been a twelve lap increase since ealier this morning. Today, we decided to hit the trail again, this time however, be brought along the camera and took turns riding the trail. Sadie put in five and a half laps first, while I sprinted about trying to snap off shots, ducking through shortcuts to catch a glimpse of her ride through the next section.

After the thirty five minute wait it was my turn to shred the trail. I took a last gulp of Cool Citrus Cytomax and was off, heading counter-clockwise for my first six laps. It was morning so the dirt was soft and the roots were slick so I pushed my bike up each of the hard hills. These six went by like clockwork with no stops. I grabbed the bottle again as i turned the bike around and took a long pull and headed off again, clock-wise this time for the second half of my nearly epic ride. This direction, while faster, take seems to take a little more energy for the first climb, maybe it's because of the lack of downhills to coast, but as I neared the top, I still felt relatively fresh, as if I had only done one or two laps before. These laps went off without a hitch and I made it up the hills nearly everytime, missing twice out of six, and once only because a vine caught my handlebar on the way up past the giant rock.

I finished the last two laps with the "victory route" down the trail that Sadie and I built, burning the corners with fresh enthusiasm as I was riding new territory for the first time today.

The final time for my twelve lap adventure was 1:02:10, averaging 5:10.70 per lap. My goal to achieve this year will be to make 20 consecutive laps (no rests) averaging five minutes or under for a total time of 1:40:00. And a single lap time of 4:00 flat.

Good luck to me, cause I'll need it!

Weekend Update

The past week was beautiful. I was taken on a whirlwind reunion tour with what it means to 'sweat' once again, and of course how to deal with it, which of course means just stubbornly putting up with it. My after work rides have been soggy shirted dates with pure bliss, since paradoxically while I prefer cooler temps, I relish the opportunity of throwing myself into the outdoors on a hot day and just givin' her.

I really do feel fortunate for yet another week of living injury and sickness free, it is a gift, these days, as the frailty of the human experience will eventually catch up with, and seize us all. As the infinitely fortunate benefactors of a infinitesimally small piece of existence, we are all charged with the sacred duty of appreciating every single moment we have here on earth. When one ponders the staggering odds and untold random combinations of genes that fell into exact place to create us, the gravity of our situation is illuminated, and more so yet is the sweet truth that in 4 billion years of earth history the chance that we all came to being within this short period of 80 or so years and have had the chance to know each other is unparalleled in its preciousness. I guess what I'm trying to say is that life is special and really quite brief, and that these two truths mean that we should enjoy it, each and every moment!

We've got some actions shots this week, take a look! 6-3-2007 Weekend in Pictures

Walking, Dirt Rag Publishing

Its Tuesday night and I'm coming off a 4-day weekend. Monday was Memorial day, and I took today off as paid vacation. The weekend was just long enough to impart a small taste of that sweet freedom that an extended break offers, yet short enough to swiftly snatch away the treat. I am, however, glad for the 4 days, they were nice.

On Monday Sabrina and I set off on an epic ride with the intent to explore Larrabee state park. With intoxicating memories of past epics spinning through my brain we set off into a beautiful, sunny, warm day. It was about a 12 mile ride to the park with about 9-10 of it being on a trail which was great. We passed though a couple small mountains. Under the old growth forest everything simply glows green, it was incredible really, I had visions of the 'scenic route' in Hilo, Hawaii, the similarities were just uncanny. Eventually we reached the park and snaked our way down a small trail and onto a little beach were we ate lunch and relaxed for a while. After drinking in the sun and water we started a two mile up-hill ride to Fragrance Lake. There were spots where Sabrina thought she was going to die, but with much encouragement her endeavors bore fruit and we arrived at the top. The ride down however she impressed me. The road was loamy, with a soft gravel base that took some skill to track through, yet she was never far off my back during the ultra-fast two mile downhill. There were even a couple spots were I thought I was going to blast right off the mountain and fearfully gazed back only to see Sabrina successfully navigate the corner. At the bottom we were all smiles, laughing and talking about how much fun it was. From there we had a nice ride back to town and even stopped at a local ice cream store to enjoy a reward.

This weekend I even took my beloved prophet up to Galbraith for the first time in a few months. After hitting a tree and completely blowing off the trails a couple times I remembered how to ride and remembered why its such a fun bike. Today I took the Ironhorse out and marveled, once again, at how well it goes downhill.

I received an email today from someone I had forgotten about, Karen the editor of Dirt Rag! She announced that they are now ready to publish my article in their next issue (hits the stands July 1). I will be occupying the very last page of the magazine, the "Last Chance for Gas" section, which ironically is one of my favorite sections to read in the mag. Cool!

I haven't done this for a while, but now that I've finally got something to post take a look:

5-28-2007 Weekend in Pictures

Weekend Update

Its Sunday night and a new week is just on the horizon beckoning us forward into new and unexplored territory. The past week was fine; work was normal and the weather was on par with yearly May averages. I was able to sneak a few rides in at the mountain which is always calming, however my knees have been bothering me a bit, not really pain but more of a pressure feeling. I'm not sure why but I'm trying different things to see if I can reduce it.

Yesterday Sabrina and I walked all over downtown spending our time peeking into small shops, enjoying parks, trails, and the gentle spring weather. We need to do this to help rest our minds, our neighbors have been getting louder lately, it seems the effectiveness of my method (standing on a chair and banging on the ceiling) isn't as potent as it once was. I'll probably end up talking to the landlord about it. I also haven't been super excited about the people I've been seeing more and more around the area either. The amount of police sirens right outside the apartment and in the general surroundings have been increasing as well.

*** News break! Right as I was writing that last paragraph I heard, you guessed it, sirens! About 7 police vehicles swerved in right next to the apartment and from what I could tell they are targeting the Mexican house across the street. There are police cars stationed at the road entrances to the ghet.. I mean neighborhood, so I wonder what they are doing, and who they are trying to keep in.

Any ways, here are some pictures: 5-6-2007 Weekend in Pictures

Hobo Talk, Bookstore, Ride Update

The word of the week was 'rain', except for Saturday and Sunday. I don't really mind the rain, commuting in it is kind of nice as long as it isn't pouring too hard - its the wind that bothers me.

Saturday I rode the mountain, and had a good muddy time and today, Sunday, I rode around Fairhaven and downtown. There were people absolutely everywhere, all the parks, roads, and walkways, I think there were some festivals going on. The homeless especially, it seems like every peaceful bench in the parks had a homeless guy sleeping on it (so much for enjoying a nice read!). At one point I saw a homeless guy engage two college kids about something. I listended in on the conversation and literally each sentence the guy spoke was a non sequitor, completely disconnected from the previous sentence, I mean you couldn't make this stuff up if you tried. This led me to a deeper thought, how many of the homeless have mental impairments or diseases? I'm sure the percentage is pretty high, this guy was diagnosable for sure. How should we deal with these people? If they are unable to integrate into society because of treatable problems such as drug addiction, mental disability or physical disability do we owe them treatment as members of our collective group, or as conservatives might claim are they in their respective predicaments because they chose to 'not help themselves'. I'm not going to pretend to have any answers since this is something I really haven't thought that much about.

While I was spending some time downtown today I saw a used bookstore and decided to go in. As I walked through the doors and started looking around an older man behind the counter rather sharply called out to me, "You have to leave your bag at the desk while you look". I thought for a second, and then turned to leave only to be met by his snide remarks to a paying customer, "we love it, we love it..." As I was leaving I calmly said "Well if you won't trust your customers then..." Before I could finish he interupted, stating with arrogance "No. We don't." As I stood outside the store I debated whether or not to go back in and lay into the guy - if he won't trust me why should I trust him with my belongings? I didn't, and I regret it. Arrogance is something that always makes me mad. I don't know if that man was the owner, but if so he lost a customer and gained an advertiser, I will tell everyone that asks about my experience at "Henderson Books, 116 Grand Ave. Bellingham, 98225." Now as soon as google re-indexes my page I this blurb should be a top hit if anyone searches for the store and they can decide if they want to shop somewhere that snidely distrusts potential customers based on what they are wearing, I know I won't.

Anyways, not much for pictures this week so I'll leave you with this macro shot I took Saturday.

Commuting Thoughts, Ride Update

It was a good week. I find happiness in simplicity, so in that regard I was successful. As long as I can keep all the useless, needless, complicated crap out of my life I'll be alright. Sabrina pretty much just rolls her eyes at me now when I yell at the commercials during 'Lost' - but man! If I was to believe even a small fraction of the commercial claims on television I should be one sorry, depressed loser. I believe the essence of simplicity is Aristotelian; it is finding the middle path between virtue and vice, too much and too little. I used to think it would be safe to fall on the side of too much wealth, but as I get older I'm not so sure. Material wealth in excess is an intoxicant which clouds one's ability to perceive reality as it really is. Its far too easy to get caught up in what you have and neglect who you are - I try to continually remind myself of this.

My legs feel like jelly today. I hit the hill on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday and wanted to go today but convinced myself otherwise, for the sake of my legs. So as a compromise I spent some time riding slowly around some scenic parts of town just enjoying the view. I picked up the new issue of MBUK (Mountain Bike UK) at a news-stand and sat next to a stream for a while reading in the sun- very relaxing.

Now onto some rants!

I've been seeing more people out riding lately which has been cool. But just by my observations, unscientific as they may be, it seems like the amount of cars hasn't decreased. What irony. I hear people that just moved here talking occasionally. They like Bellingham because its less populated than their old city-homes, less cars, less traffic, less rush. They want to live somewhere quieter, and by golly they think they found what they were looking for here. This is a perfect example of the human mind's ability to compartmentalize contradictory beliefs. These people seem to have no problem, or no idea that the very lifestyle they wish to escape is the same lifestyle they are bringing here with them! All these 2 SUV households with their huge, over-elaborate homes are producing a continual push to subdivide the surrounding wilderness areas, and it is happening at an alarming rate. Pavement is such a blite upon the landscape; dead, lifeless, ugly, yet it is the calling card of the car driven lifestyle. I think the next time I see one of the monstrous SUVs with an environmentalist bumper sticker on it parked at the Organic Co-Op I'm gonna climb up onto the hood and take a dump on it right then and there. If I get yelled at I'll just start screaming "ITS ALL NATURAL! ITS ALL NATURAL!" Then I'll ask for some toilet paper.

Loud music. Whether its coming from the neighbors upstairs, or some shaved-head wannabe-gangster in an ugly rice rocket driving down the street I can't stand it. And why, seriously why, is it nearly always rap music? It seems like these days people have lost their love of silence. Maybe being alone with one's thoughts is too scary, because of what they might find (or not find). I think the pervasiveness of mindless music is symptomatic of the loss of introspection in our culture.

I have a good amount of pictures this time : 4-22-07 Weekend in Pictures

Walking, Biking, Working

The past week was a good one. Work cruised by relatively well and with the longer sun-lit days I get the feeling that I'm not spending the whole day sitting in front of the computer slaving away, especially if I can get a ride in after work. I took Friday off for a few reasons: I wanted to, so I could spend some time with Sabrina, and so I could head down to the local bike shop and purchase an upgrade (see the pictures).

Sabrina and her bike went to Seattle on Wednesday to spend the day and night with a friend who is going to be moving out of state here pretty soon. Sabrina and friend spent a couple days riding a popular urban trails which winds through some scenic parts of the city. When I met her at the train station she had another huge load of Asian goodies in tow. The ride back home reminded me of a Hilo night with bright stars and bags of groceries suspended from the handlebars - good times and good memories. Night rides next to the bay here are very nice. For me its hard to beat cruising next to the calm ocean during a moon-lit night with no sounds other than the hum of the bike's tires and the waves lapping the shore rocks.

Today, Sunday, Sabrina and I spent the day riding around Bellingham under the warm sun. We ate fish and chips at a local joint, relaxed, and did a little grocery shopping. It was nice to take it easy today as my legs feel like butter from riding the mountain on Friday and Saturday.

I don't have many pictures to show but take a look anyway: 4-15-07 Weekend in Pictures

Good Ride

It was hot week. Friday actually broke recorded temperature records with the mercury pushing 78 degrees. Not only did it feel like I was back in Hilo, on my afternoon ride at the mountain on Friday I sweated like I was back in Hilo - maybe even more so. After becoming accustomed to winter temps in the 30s and 40s, 78 degrees had me sweating with an angry vengeance. I didn't bring any electrolyte replacement on my Friday ride so by about the 2 hour point I bonked pretty hard.

Saturday Sabrina and I stayed home and relaxed which was great. Sometimes doing nothing is really worth doing, but today, Sunday was a good day. I headed for the hill at noon and didn't get back till after 3pm. During that time I experienced some great progression which I feel really good about. On my new favorite trail, SST, there are two stunts I had yet to ride; a small gap with a terrible run-up and a drop. At the trailhead as I stretched and mentally prepared myself for the run. I was feeling good; I lowered my tire pressure, righted my leg armor and let it rip. I was flowing pretty good through the first part of the trail carrying good speed through the berms and first couple jumps and by the time the trail really starts to turn downward I felt full of confidence. I knew the gap was coming and I decided to hit it so I hit the off camber run up and floated over it. Smooth. Following immediately was the next stunt I'd yet to hit, the drop. I kept my speed and rolled over the edge not even feeling the landing. Immediately a big smile was plastered over my face revealing my sense of accomplishment. The rest of the trail was great; I didn't blow out any corners, no sketchy parts, just smooth flowing. Whenever I ride this trail I always hear Bruce Lee's small poignant voice in the back of my head. "Be like water, flow like water." I think Bruce was yelling today. At the bottom I felt so good I had to hike back up a parallel trail and ride it again.

I will conclude with a small treat. Sabrina went to Seattle on Friday since she had a day off and I persuaded her to write a little bit about it in her own words: Sabrina's Seattle Trip

Here it is : 4-8-2007 weekend in pictures

April is Here

April is upon us and with it comes the promises of a new spring. Yes folks, the tilt in the earth's axis is finally favoring us in the northern part of the world resulting in longer days, more sun, and a renewal of plant life. Also worth noting, Nate has apparently slowly awakened from a deep hibernation as his section of site bears new words and photos.

The past work week was not unusual in anyway, normal even. I hesitate saying that because I don't want any of my weeks to just be normal, life is too short for boredom so I strive to eliminate it. I did steal a ride at the mountain after work Thursday which was nice. Then again Saturday I rode too and on new trails even. I've been mixing it up a bit at Galbraith riding some different parts of the mountain that I haven't frequented as much. My favorite new trail is SST, the DH trail. I've really been concentrating on my form when I ride that one since I want to develop better flow. If there is one area in the sport I would like to master it would be high speed descending. The groms can keep their dirt jumps and tricks, just give me the gnarly fast single track and I'm a happy puppy; SST is my play place for now as I attempt to refine my skills. Before Galbraith I'd never ridden any trails that had really technical downhill sections so this has been a new experience for me and I revel in the opportunity.

Today, Sunday, I went to downtown with Sabrina and we got some ice cream at a local shop. We had received coupons in the mail from the What come Smart Trips program rewarding us for not commuting by automobile so we took the opportunity to have dessert, it was nice! I had one scoop of chococalte-earl gray tea and another called 'cardamon' which had cinnamon and vanilla. Sabrina had a scoop of lemon lavender and another of banana. Very, very good.

Later this week I should be hearing back from Dirt Rag magazine, apparently they want to publish one of my articles! I heard this earlier in the week and I'm still riding the excitement high from it. I'll post more info when I get it.

For the time being, check out the weekend in pictures: 4-1-2007 weekend in pictures

Rain, Ride

What sweet bliss the weekends are, but it always seems they are gone too fast. I love nothing more than to be able to put in my ear-plugs, ignore setting the alarm on my old cellphone, and just sleep as long as I can. I'm no morning person, so waking up at 6:55am each weekday for work is a drag.

I did manage to cheat the system this week though. On Wednesday the sky was blue for the first time in a month or so and I was getting restless at work. By the time 4pm hit I was so ready to go that I almost ran out of the building - with the sun warmth powering my body I sprinted home on the bike, threw a piece of pizza down my throat, hopped on the other bike and starting pedaling towards the mountain. Two hours later I returned feeling tired, yet refreshed. This was the first time I've squeezed in a ride after work, but now because of day-light savings I can do it occasionally. My legs sure did feel it the next day though!

The rest of the week it rained, Saturday especially hard, so today when I rode it was muddy, muddy, muddy. The new bike is breaking in nicely though and I can really push it on the downhills. The DW-Link keeps the rear tire firmly planted to the ground so my descents have gotten noticeably faster. I did manage to bottom out the bike for the first time, all 180mm of travel when I hit the big drop on Lower Bob's Trail at full speed flying about 10-12 feet, and landing about 6-8 feet down from my take-off height. I hardly felt the landing other than softly reaching the end of the travel, but I almost killed myself after hitting a small double at full speed after the drop though. One foot flew off the pedals and I did the crazy chicken dance on the bike at 20mph over roots and rocks. There was a dude in full armor and a full-face helmet who had been eyeing up the drop when I hit it, so I was determined to pull it together and not wreck in front of him.

I keep meaning to put up some more writings, but the last couple weeks I've been reading more than writing. At work I've got about 5 different podcasts I listen to continually; one from SETI, another from Point of Inquiry, and a few more science and skepticism related ones. After finishing the 13 part series of "Cosmos" with Sabrina I'm now reading Carl Sagan's accompanying book by the same name. I can't get enough of his writings and I can truly say I discovered his work late, but fortunately not too late.

Here are a few pics from the past week: 3-18-2007

Riding, Ranting, Organic Food BS

It was a wet week; I think I got rained on 4 out of the 5 weekdays. I don't really mind it, but it makes trying to dry out clothes a difficult task. Sometimes I miss the sun too, although it did come out at times today. Saturday it rained most of the day, but as soon as it let up in the evening I walked down to the grocery store. On my way back the sun began shining through a small whole in the clouds and I was treated to the most vibrant rainbow I've ever seen. As I walked, watching it, the wind began to blow and the rainbow slowly moved across the sky till it was almost over my head. I find it easy to understand why many cultures and myths attributed the rainbow to supernatural powers, but I find equal beauty in knowing that rainbows are an optical phenomena created by the refraction of sunlight dispersing itself between drops of rain water. As I neared home, the rainbow began to quickly fade and then, a moment later, it was gone. Life to death in 10 minutes; a natural lecture on the brevity of life, if I may borrow a biological metaphor.

I purchased the latest issue of "Skeptical Inquiry" Saturday and boy is it a good one. I think I might scan some of the articles to post here later, I found some quite moving.

I had a nice ride today at the mountain. It was real muddy but the sun was out so I felt pretty good. I rode a couple different trails than my normal route, most notably "SST" - Super Sonic Transport, Galbraith's only DH race trail. It is SUPER FAST! A good time for sure.

Here is a short piece I wrote about the growing problem of Organic Food.

And here are a few pictures (literally just a few) from the weekend: 3-25-2007 weekend in pictures.

Weekend Update

This was a 4 day work week since I took Monday off, but it didn't feel like it probably because it never really got very light outside with the rain and the heavy clouds and complete lack of sun. This weekend we have been experiencing a "pineapple express" which happens when a front of warm air from Hawaii pushes in bringing 50mph winds and flood inducing rains. Nevertheless I managed a ride on Saturday on the new bike, the first ride where I really pushed it hard. Last week on my first ride I slipped off a ladder bridge falling sideways against my right knee with all my weight. It didn't swell up too badly but I couldn't really ride that hard either. However yesterday I gave it all I could and the bike wanted more. There were a couple drops and step-downs I wanted to really stomp but had either hit them softly or not at all on my prophet, but on the ironhorse the landings were pure butter. The bike is just fun all around, it pedals great, rails the single track really well and goes downhill fast. I am defiantly cautious when it comes to the sketchy stuff like skinny bridges and dirt-jump style stunts, but when the course opens up a bit and you can really pick up speed thats when I feel the most confident. Not much feels better than hitting a drop or step-down at high speed and not even feeling the landing.

Now that spring and summer are approaching, and the weather will inevitably get better, I'd love to find a way to work less and be able to spend more time outdoors. Sitting in an office with co-workers who are paranoid about fresh-air and sunlight is no fun, especially when everytime I go look out a window I see the mountains with their thick green trees calling. Biking, camping, just being out in the woods in general, I want more of it. The whole American dream of a perfect house and 9-5 desk job doesn't resonate with who I am. I gotta find a way to break the mold.

Here are some pictures from the weekend: 3-11-2007

Weekend Update

Whada week it was. Most importantly, Sabrina and I got officially hitched today, Monday. We are planning on having a ceremony later towards the summer, but for now we decided to take care of the legal side of things so we can start the paperwork for getting her a greencard.

Also, I strong-armed my long awaited bike into my possession from UPS - pictures in the link below.

I had today off and I'm not looking forward to getting up early after sleeping in for 3 days straight, but there are bills to be paid and rules to be bound by. I haven't yet figured out how to get around those rules.

I've been hearing lately how celebrities who are supposedly concerned about the environment have been buying "clean air credits" to offset their energy use. Basically, to clean their consciousness from driving their SUVs and flying around the world, these celebrities pay other people to drive or consume less energy. Now, just how hypocritical is this BS? Imagine paying someone to perform community service for you, diet for you, or study for you. Have you performed, eaten less, or learned more as a result? No, of course not. However these celebrities, instead of living up to their ideals, pay others to do it for them and continue on in their smug self-righteous ways. Freaking morons.

I've got to stop reading google news. I can't remember the last time I actually read a positive headline on there. Is it just me or is the political situation in this country, let alone the world, actually getting measurably worse daily? Religious extremists, political pundits, superstitious nonsense, and egotistical zealots, all arguing over mere parts of a tiny world awash in the infinite mass of space. The Milky Way, our home galaxy is 100,000 light years across, the Universe according to conservative estimates is trillions of light years across. In the time it takes light from nearby galaxies to reach earth we will have been either swallowed by the sun, or destroyed by an asteroid. Who knows, in the time it has taken life from nearby star systems to reach our planet, life there could have already evolved intelligence, societies and kingdoms lasting thousands of years, and then extinguished themselves through war or ignorance. What lessons for our planet reside within the mysteries of the stars? How absolutely futile are our petty ideologies, wars, and disputes over this tiny spec? Pretty small.

Ok, here are the pics: 3-5-2007

Weekend Update

I made it through another week full of experiences, some usual some new, but all I'm thankful for. Saturday I did nothing which is normal, I usually reserve my Saturdays purely for relaxation. However, at about 10:30 there was a knock on my door and I was met by two nicely dressed individuals; Jehovah’s Witnesses! We had a nice debate for a little while and rather than talking about theology which can be like sword fighting with wet spaghetti noodles, I centered the discussion on philosophy, and philosophical implications of science. Maybe I'll post a transcript of the talk later.
Sunday, today, I went to Galbraith. It was raining, but warm enough to remain comfortable; so I rode a couple trails I hadn't visited for a while, pictures in the links below.

My new bike will be here Wednesday, 10 days after ordering it. If you can indulge me for a moment and turn off your rational minds I would like to propose a new physical law about the universe:

"The amount of time it takes an item to ship is inversely proportional to how bad you want it." In other words, the more you want something the longer it will take to ship to you. Argh! But, once the bike comes I'll post a full account with pictures explaining each detail.

I read finished reading Carl Sagan's "Pale Blue Dot" recently and I almost do not want to say anything about it for fear of utterly diminishing the values held therein. Essentially the book is a call for humanity to recognize our exploratory heritage and head for the stars. The book is eloquent, moving, and should be read by everyone. Sagan's warnings about the fragility of our planet's ecosystems are absolutely moving, and even more so when I think about humanity is doing to our ability to live on earth. I'm now reading his book "Cosmos" and will report on it later.
Sabrina and I have been watching Dr. Sagan's 15 part series "Cosmos" on DVD. I cannot reccomend any of Sagan's work enough. It is such a shame that a mind so valuable as his is no longer with us.
As is becoming somewhat of a tradition, I present the weekend in pictures: 2-25-2007

A few car related statistics to think about:

-Cars produce one quarter of the world's man-made greenhouse gas emissions [1].
-Globally road accidents cost 1.2 million lives and 50 million serious injuries per year [2], and massive indirect cost to our lives and health systems from lack of exercise and air pollution.
-The world motor vehicle population of is predicted to rise from 640 million in 1996 to 1.1 billion in 2020 [3].
[1] World Resources Institute, (2004). In many western countries the proportion is higher.
[2] "World report on road traffic injury prevention", World Health Organisation, Geneva, (2004)
[3] "Climate Change 2001: Mitigation" UN IPCC, working group III, Norway (2001).

Weekend Update

It seems another week has passed with my only update being the one I usually do on Sunday, I'll have to remedy that and start doing a mid-week update maybe.

This week was highlighted by Wednesday which had Sabrina and I heading down to the courthouse to sign our marriage license, we now have 60 days to attain our marriage certificate by having two witnesses and a judge sign our paperwork. After that we begin the rather large prospect of the green card process. We thought it was fitting to start everything on Valentines day which was why we chose Wednesday. After the courthouse we walked down to a local pub/restaurant and got some grub; I had a big burger (see the pictures) and a pint of their finest while Sabrina ate a portion of my burger and some fried squid appetizer.

On Saturday we had a couple nice long walks around the area; I'm still trying to get a good feel for all the surrounding neighborhoods so this helped. On one of our walks we found a small grocery store that has been open since 1895, how cool! It still had the old fridges and advertising posters on the wall, it is a real charming place.

On Sunday I hit the mountain. I spent a portion of the ride up chatting with a guy I met named Rob; he was riding a sweet Santa Cruz VP-Free with a white Marz. 66 on the front, sooo nice. We talked bikes for a while, mused about the mountain and the nature of the riding Galbraith offers and then went it separate ways. Its always nice to talk with riders on Galbraith since there is a natural kinship and dialogue that flows from a shared love of the sport. I then proceeded to get lost on a brand new trail called "Goldilocks", its a good 5-6 mile loop of single-track winding around on the side of the mountain. A lot of the trail is still soft but quite fun. Since I was mid-way up the mountain the ride down was pretty long; nothing new, but today I really came down with a bad case of hand-pump which results from long periods of grabbing the brake levers. Basically the tendons in your hands and wrists get so sore you can hardly make a fist. Hand-pump has never been a problem for me before Bellingham since I've never rode anywhere that had the technical, steep and long descents of Galbraith. Hydraulic brakes sounded kinda nice today, but even though, I'm still happy with the current mechanical disks on my prophet; I'm just glad I got that big 8 inch rotor on the front, it really helps.

Once again, check the highlights of the week in photos: 2-18-2007 Week in Pictures

Weekend Update

As always, the weekend came none to soon, and left before expected. I managed to ride Galbraith on Saturday and spent time cruising around with Sabrina on Sunday to some spots she had visited but I hadn't seen yet. Nate and I got in some good web time building our Memories map which I have to say is coming along very nicely. I'm quite happy with how this site is coming along in general; and having additional updates coming in from across the country makes it all the more better.

I've still got plenty of writings to upload to the rants section of the site, so stay tuned. My documents folder is a mixed conglomeration of half written short stories, essays, and all manner of other musings. Slowly but surely they'll make the transition to HTML for posterity on the web.

For the time being, I present the weekend in pictures: 2-11-2007 Weekend

Ride Update

Breaking a two week spell of sun, this weekend was a rainy one. Saturday I was so tired from the previous week I didn't do anything. But today, Sunday, I went to Galbraith. It was rainy and misty which gave the mountain a surreal quality, like something from a fantasy story. The myst made the green ferns almost glow, and if I was to gaze up at the trees their tops would disappear in the myst above me. I live for these moments, for these rides. The only thing better than this type of ride is this type of ride with friends. Well, no friends here in Bellingham, so I'll have to make do.

I took some pics from the ride

I love Nate's idea of a "Map of Memories" and have written down some stories from different points along the UH Trail. For all the diversity that there is here on Galbraith Mountain in Bellingham, UH-Trail will forever be my favorite, and until I can go back I'll miss it daily