May...

May God bless and keep you always,
May your wishes all come true,
May you always do for others
And let others do for you.
May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung,
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.

May you grow up to be righteous,
May you grow up to be true,
May you always know the truth
And see the lights surrounding you.
May you always be courageous,
Stand upright and be strong,
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.

May your hands always be busy,
May your feet always be swift,
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift.
May your heart always be joyful,
May your song always be sung,
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young


HAPPY NEW YEAR , y'all.

BACK

...to the days of yes y'alling. J and I took the trailerbike up into the woods today for a Brown Lunch to remember. Because- I forgot the camera and the spoons and the matches.
Out of practice, I guess. I had thought to bring the firestarter to mess with and that ended up saving us. Well, that and J thinking of using the title page of his Ratatouille book as kindling (15 minutes in and the pine needles weren't catching). Using the firestarter is harder than it might seem, and I wanted to practice in a non-emergency situation. So we had a lentil stew. Sauteed the onions in the woods and added some collard greens, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, and spices.

I can't explain why crouching in the woods and cooking lunch next to a bike on a pocket stove while looking to any passersby like a hobo with a stolen child (J always looks his best- today he'd opted to sport a sweater vest) is so satisfying.

But it is.




So we are returned from Colorado, and all well. There was a lot of Goodness packed in.

J liks to "hide" when he sleeps on roadtrips.





That is the lady I married...




Finally, we decided to take Highway 1 back up the coast from Paso Robles instead of the usual/quicker 101. Just South of Deetjen's, we spied this gift:





After all this time. Amazing. (sorry for my poor hand with the camera. you get what you pay for)



Hope all is well with you and yours. It is Good to be home.

A Very Merry Winter Solstice

to you.
To me?

Me and mine are heading for the high country at this time. Expect no further awesomeness until next year. And remember, it's a celebration, bitches.

RIP Betty Page

I especially lik 0:28- 0:33. See also 3:06-3:40.

RIP Betty. You really could shake it around.

humps gotten and gotten over?

Due to the screwy conditions all around- the prescribed burn, people's misplaced invitations (I heard K___ invited some gal he's internet friendly with, and then jumped ship...and she and friends of hers may or may not be showing up at) the now closed yellow tanker area, other people's morale, or work ethic....

We may or may not be riding anyway. Obviously, for a number of reasons, parking at the water tanker would not be wise. Call me on my remote control phone or something.



Group rides are the best!

bring on the night.

the afternoon has gently
passed me by...



Full Cold Moon
you know what to do.

YO, bumrush the trail!

So yeah, I may or may not have pulled my hamstrings on the Jossholes road ride, last Friday. They go ooh and ahh, when I ride in the for-
est?

Why? Well, because I used someone else's shoes! A little too big. It felt screwy at the time, as my feet were too far forward. Even with the largesse, Coach Burningmanhandler runs his cleats super far back. But, there are times when you must accept your circumstance with grace...and then bitch about it on your personal internet complaint space later, I guess.

What have I been doin about it? Uh...resting my legs. Some tennis ball work. It feels pulled at the origin (ischial tuberosity) and at the medial insertion. Pffft.

Took a ride up in Santa Cruz today with C____ M_________, and C____ B______. I was slooooow, and felt poorly. Trails were niiiiiiiice, seen? Seen.




I must say, this puts me in a unique position to judge C____ B______; having ridden 52miles in his shoes and all.



Poorly or not- there will be a Full Moon Ride for the December 12th's Full Cold Moon. It will be a day early, and run on the 11th, Thursday. It will be damn near full and still cool. The yokels are comin down, so's to push the start back to between 7 and 7:30ish at the usual spot. Look for us to be lurking at the Stairs if you don't see us at the water tanker.

Bring beer.

Oh, there is this, too.

things that are good

Willie Nelson and Family




Professor Longhair and the Funky Meters




Toots and the Maytals...with Ivan (Jimmy Cliff) making an appearance. From the film The Harder They come





Lucinda Williams and Elvis Costello




Steve Earle and Emmy Lou Harris

down with a sickness

The sickness of needing a new bike.







WANT, WANT, WANT. That Rivendell is hitting me where it hurts.

I may have mentioned before that I loves the mixtes. Well, it is true. And even though I think 650b is a STUPID idea (Ok if you are trying to make a 700c more useable- you know with a real tire, not some 23 booshee- then yeah, I can see it has a place. New bikes built around it? WHY?!? Just more incompatibility. If you have some techy opinion backed up by careful internet research, keep it to your gay forum, ok?)...still, a mixte that would actually fit me? Without some hoopty mile of seat post/stem flexing it ever which way? That will be priced at a reasonable (the Gloriuses are pretty and all, but dang! I can't see paying for one) rate? Well, I'm all knotted up over it.

The new Nigel Smythe bag looks pretty (big) tough, too. Apparently there is also an entirely new line coming down the Rivendell pike as well. Again, ouch! me tender bits. Ain't no drag...

And then, there is this guy, from Sartorialist...


Biting my style. Well, except for the hairs.

Rollin on 28s

52 road miles with the Jossholes today before work.

There was the usual preambles about how so and so has been off the bike for 4 months (LIE- turns out he's been riding 3 days a week for the last month) and someone other has had the flu for 3 weeks(LIE- who knows what really went on, but judging from PowerTap values shown today, TOTAL LIE. And yes, 4 riders, 3 PowerTaps) Lying liars suckered me into:

1) Frantically spending the AM swapping knobbies for slicks on the road/cross bike. This did not work out so well initially since I had inadvertently mounted the Panaracer Pasela 32s on another bike, and the 35s won't fit...so I was left with 28s. Which concerned me. I'm a muscular fellow, and I lik to have some bounces under my ounces.

2) Frantically grabbing my shoes and putting them with my gear to avoid a repeat of the last Full Moon ride, when I forgot them...only to forget them today, anyway and end up borrowing not only shoes, and pedals ( Eggbeater cleat=no interface with Time pedals), but gloves as well. That guy. Again!

3) Frantically trying to keep up with the pace.

4)Etc., but not leaving out listening to their little talky talk...

It was a Good Time. It's been months and months since I've been on a group road ride. I forgot the highs and the lows. Ok, mainly the highs. It is fun to echelon, especially with wind involved. Going fast is fun- the pace was a constant struggle (so much more intensity than my solo jaunts) and I got shelled on nearly every steep hill (read "roller") and yoyoed off and on all day, but it was Good and fun. I forgot the feeling of cruising in a pack. That's a Good Feeling!

I'll tell you what- for rolly fast goodness, it was kickass being on 28s. Railing.

Also, I will be one of the Team Joselyn's sponsors this coming year. In my (unknown to you people) professional/non-jackass persona. I'm looking forward to it.



And, plus I totally won the ride.

I'm movin dirt around with my body

Again.

That is a picture of a genteel townie in a portion of it's natural habitat. It is a Town&Country townie. It is at ease either way, but if lines were drawn...well, they could only be drawn in the dirt.

Wheels on the bike go round and round

Round and round, round and round...


10 speed cross today. Dipped down to the P.O. to wait in line and then an unusual routing of the usual dirt. It's good to switch it up. Hushed and still in the woods today. Becalmed.
That side of things always feels subtly different from my usual. It feels like mountain lion territory. (The big town cat was spotted again, night before last down by the Mission.) It feels like some guy has it in for me could be around the corner, any corner. Maybe that one? Think of lines, ways out. Listen close. Creep.



Then it was familiar fast lines over to the Good Spot to drop off some Easter Eggs...

Today was not the day for lingering there, dipping into the stock. Today was for keep on movin don't stop. Bluebird and crisp.


North through CSide(!) out to Fort Ord, thinking I'd get some rolly goodness in.There was this

squatting on the trailhead like a very unwelcome toad. You remember the evidence of surveying? This
is how imminent the wreckage of those sweet sweet roller trails are. All the goodness that East Garrison holds is on the block. Here's hoping the money runs out, and quick.





Ti-i-i-ime was not on my side. Tarried at the Stairs long enough to eat some lunch and then turn around. Got to get them kids.







Hey Moab! Really, really good to hear from you. So glad to know the proposed drilling has been cancelled. These crooks can't be gone from the Executive Office soon enough.

Without this ____ my life would fall apart

Yeah.

So, I been feeling out of sorts lately. Out of shape. Out of it. Out of work on a large scale- it's the slow time for the resort business here, in addition to the economy slow down. Thinking about changes. Dragsville. Yesterday, I rode the fixed crosscheck on a truncated version of the usual dirt loop and was not feeling it. Bummerlife getting me down...

Trying to let today be a ray of sunshine.

Seems to have worked. I took note of the changes wreaked on the trails I consider mine. Those logs barring access? Yeah, the couple old ones and one substantial new one. Well, today I retook ownership.


1st stop here. You see why.




And now looking up trail.




Quite some time ago now, the elusive Mysterious B___ S_____ presented me with this. I have used it only one other time in the 2 years I've had it. My folding saw has just seemed so much more convenient, but for something this girthful (?) it doesn't, ah, cut it. This do.






Right off the bat I had to cut handles.





Yup. No photos of the action. This took , I'm guessing, 15-20 minutes of serious effort. I was tired and soaked.


It took a while to get the hang of this. It is easy to get the 2 ends off track and then the cut does not line up (Then when you shift positions, it requires you to start a new line. Waste of time). You have to be really aware of the depth of the cut as well. Cut too deep on the underside and you'll pinch the chain as the log shifts. Start the cut on top- it's the most awkward angle. Watch for dangerous branches around you, especially those that may spring free. Anticipate how the log will likely move as it drops. A shallow angle works best to keep the chain free, and this also promotes speed. Speed is much more effective than force.Etc.

As D said to me several years ago from the toilet seat of a truck stop in Gallup early in the morning,"It's hard work."






Moved on to the Good Spot to take a breather. Fixed cross yesterday, geared today. I'm in love with this bike (again) right now. It is so jumpy and responsive. It has it's issues, but the fit is perrrrfect. I was thinking about the Nitto 48cm wide(!) bars on D____ G___'s birfday ride the other day (versus the On One Midge bars which are curremtly on the crosscheck), and they only struck my forearms rarely on the steep techy climbs. I can live with that as a trade off for the breathing help, the deep drop and the comfortable flats.


Some swoopy stuff, and then


I was here. This oak has been in the trail for as long as I've known it. Last year more of it fell, blocking the arch which had been one of my favorite ride features. Today the grumbling ended.


Yes. And that's 1 of 2 in this spot. Both that size. They required alot of jumping. And hoisting. I was whipped at the end of it.



Done.



Here's my 1st attempt at video ever. Turn your head sidways and it will rule...







And, hey I looked so good doing it.


Feeling better about things.