And I don't mean dinner or tootsie rolllllllll....It has been a good past couple of weeks with some great productivity and prepping for 2011. I am looking forward to getting back home and settling back into our usual rhythm with the dogs being silly and me having my creature comforts!
I was approached yesterday for a possible adjunct instructor opportunity with the local college. The opportunity sounds like it could be a lot of fun but unfortunately my schedule has no wiggle room at all for another gig. It is always interesting to me how things can unfold - seemingly meaningless encounters and meetings with people that are actually planting seeds for future germination.
The holiday season is getting closer and closer and it seems to be like things get more and more hectic (even if you don't let yourself get caught up in the hype).
in tribute to tootsie roll and don't believe the hype....here it is:
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Lynskey Progress, Pugsleys and Mukluks
How did Tuesday sneak up so quickly? Yesterday was a barn burner of a day and it somehow passed really fast. It probably has something to do with being uber busy. The upside though is that it was a day full of accomplishments and possibilities so I will take that.
The Lynskey frame has been sitting in the basement for the past month and although there is no rush to get the bike built yet, it still looks a little lonely sitting all by its lonesome down there. The build is coming together in terms of parts. I have been working with Great Divide in Helena to put it all together and help in determining parts. As of right now, my preference is to go with a Niner fork in moondust (which should match the Titanium frame) and as for bottom bracket/crankset, the current preferred choice is the Truvative Stylo. The fork is a fully rigid carbon fork and weighs in at 565 grams!
Since there is no rush at all on the bike build (after all, it is winter and we do live in Montana), the mind has wondered off to other options. One of those daydreams took me to what the options are like for real winter riding. There are two snow/sand specific bikes that have huge 4 1/2 inch wide tires. The Surly Pugsley and the Salsa Mukluk are not the lightest bikes in the world, then again they are not supposed to be....They look like the Hummer tanks of bikes. They just look like they would be a ton of fun! Both bikes are apparently made by the same crew out of Minnesota. It would be really fun to try and ride one sometime just to see how they handle in the white stuff or deep sand.
The Lynskey frame has been sitting in the basement for the past month and although there is no rush to get the bike built yet, it still looks a little lonely sitting all by its lonesome down there. The build is coming together in terms of parts. I have been working with Great Divide in Helena to put it all together and help in determining parts. As of right now, my preference is to go with a Niner fork in moondust (which should match the Titanium frame) and as for bottom bracket/crankset, the current preferred choice is the Truvative Stylo. The fork is a fully rigid carbon fork and weighs in at 565 grams!
Since there is no rush at all on the bike build (after all, it is winter and we do live in Montana), the mind has wondered off to other options. One of those daydreams took me to what the options are like for real winter riding. There are two snow/sand specific bikes that have huge 4 1/2 inch wide tires. The Surly Pugsley and the Salsa Mukluk are not the lightest bikes in the world, then again they are not supposed to be....They look like the Hummer tanks of bikes. They just look like they would be a ton of fun! Both bikes are apparently made by the same crew out of Minnesota. It would be really fun to try and ride one sometime just to see how they handle in the white stuff or deep sand.
Monday, December 13, 2010
Backcountry day-dreaming
Monday is here and it is back to the work grind. It should theoretically be a slower week considering people are either out of the office or more or less checked out for the holiday season. There is still some work to get through this week from a planning perspective as we head into 2011 but I am hoping for a chill week as we progress through the holiday season.
All this work lately has made me yearn for the backcountry...until there is enough snow and enough time the memories of past trips will just have to suffice. I am hoping that the splitboard will be the weapon of choice this year but that all depends on our snow and how it packs because last year was an avie nightmare!
All this work lately has made me yearn for the backcountry...until there is enough snow and enough time the memories of past trips will just have to suffice. I am hoping that the splitboard will be the weapon of choice this year but that all depends on our snow and how it packs because last year was an avie nightmare!
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Don't Call it a Comeback, I've Been Here For Years
Thanks LL....It has been several days since any posting on the blog and life has been speeding by for the past week. Combine that lack of time with the lack of content and voila that equals blog neglect.
Too much work and no play makes Johnny a dull boy and in this case it rings true - no one wants to hear about how busy work has been or how life has you chasing your tail so I will refrain from trying to even blog about that and make it interesting...NEXT
I have been able to get to the climbing gym and even made it there on Tues and Thurs this past week. It felt good to pull on plastic but it was very humbling to realize much of the go go juice was missing. I was able to sneak a couple of good sends in there. The funny part is that my hardest sends were my on-sights early on in the bouldering sesh's. So as soon as my go go juice (which admittedly there was not much to start with) was gone, it was all was about trying to pick problems that looked interested and would help build some endurance. It is difficult to build power endurance when you have neither! So my theory is you have to be able to build some endurance before you start to push the power (the tendons appreciate the lower stress in the beginning too).
It was really good to have a gym to go to but it makes me realize how much I miss going in somewhat regularly to a place where you can grunt and groan your way up plastic. During the grunting and groaning, I must have rolled an ankle on the gym mats because it has been killing me for the past few days since my last climbing session...load up on Vitamin I (Ibuprofen) and onwards we march.
no pix, no glory...just good old fashioned blah blah blah today....and now time to try and squeeze in a little fun before the work starts back up.
Too much work and no play makes Johnny a dull boy and in this case it rings true - no one wants to hear about how busy work has been or how life has you chasing your tail so I will refrain from trying to even blog about that and make it interesting...NEXT
I have been able to get to the climbing gym and even made it there on Tues and Thurs this past week. It felt good to pull on plastic but it was very humbling to realize much of the go go juice was missing. I was able to sneak a couple of good sends in there. The funny part is that my hardest sends were my on-sights early on in the bouldering sesh's. So as soon as my go go juice (which admittedly there was not much to start with) was gone, it was all was about trying to pick problems that looked interested and would help build some endurance. It is difficult to build power endurance when you have neither! So my theory is you have to be able to build some endurance before you start to push the power (the tendons appreciate the lower stress in the beginning too).
It was really good to have a gym to go to but it makes me realize how much I miss going in somewhat regularly to a place where you can grunt and groan your way up plastic. During the grunting and groaning, I must have rolled an ankle on the gym mats because it has been killing me for the past few days since my last climbing session...load up on Vitamin I (Ibuprofen) and onwards we march.
no pix, no glory...just good old fashioned blah blah blah today....and now time to try and squeeze in a little fun before the work starts back up.
Friday, December 3, 2010
Cee-Lo
Not sure why but Cee-Lo tunes have been stuck in my mind the last day...so no pomp, no circumstance, gimme some FUNK brother man - he is just a straight up balla':
and some older school Cee-Lo, awesome tune!
and with Asher Roth???
and some older school Cee-Lo, awesome tune!
and with Asher Roth???
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Climbing Gym
The highlight of the day yesterday was hitting the climbing gym. It was great to put on the tight shoes, hobble around and get spanked by plastic.
The only thing saving me from getting worked like a six yr old chinese laborer in a textile factory, was my technique...it saved me a little considering all the lack of climbing power and endurance! Apparently not climbing regularly for a few years does not exactly help to maintain any semblance of what used to be quick ticks on problems. Instead it was more about just getting on problems and climbing.
Hopefully the power will come back fast, but it would required a regular regimen and living in Montana does not allow a guy to get outside and climb regularly...so my ego will just have to be humbled each time I get on stone or plastic. The interesting thing was that my power and endurance felt fine at the beginning (considering the time off), but there was a definite line of where my power stopped (or lack of power). I could on-sight v3's all day long but as soon as I stepped into v4 realm, I lost the go-go juice to finish the problems and then could not really touch v5's. It might have had a little something to do with not projecting problems either. I was just trying to get volume to get the forearms worked and allow the tendons to ease into it...but still the ego wanted more - not to be for now.
The only thing saving me from getting worked like a six yr old chinese laborer in a textile factory, was my technique...it saved me a little considering all the lack of climbing power and endurance! Apparently not climbing regularly for a few years does not exactly help to maintain any semblance of what used to be quick ticks on problems. Instead it was more about just getting on problems and climbing.
Hopefully the power will come back fast, but it would required a regular regimen and living in Montana does not allow a guy to get outside and climb regularly...so my ego will just have to be humbled each time I get on stone or plastic. The interesting thing was that my power and endurance felt fine at the beginning (considering the time off), but there was a definite line of where my power stopped (or lack of power). I could on-sight v3's all day long but as soon as I stepped into v4 realm, I lost the go-go juice to finish the problems and then could not really touch v5's. It might have had a little something to do with not projecting problems either. I was just trying to get volume to get the forearms worked and allow the tendons to ease into it...but still the ego wanted more - not to be for now.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Programus Interuptus
something about best laid plans...of mice and men...It turns out that being on the road is not super conducive to keeping a blog updated. Go figure! Being on the road also has a tendency to interrupt any regular sort of physical activity (unless of course the reason for the road is pleasure).
At this point, the body is healing (that is what I keep telling myself) and all those little nagging pains are getting a chance to recover. It makes me feel better to think this but there is always that guilt associated with the body being idle. However I do plan on changing that all up today. The plans include hitting a local gym and maybe even getting in a climbing session at a climbing gym. It could all get derailed based on time constraints, but yet again we will go with the intention for now.
This 'slow' time of year from a bike recreation perspective is a good time of year to start coming up with events for the upcoming year. Everything is still in its infancy stages in terms of ideas but everything must have a genesis...for now the ideas rolling around in my head include the High Cascades hundie, maybe the Puff again, maybe a 24 hr race or two (although I am sort of 'over' the 24 hour races - but never say never). Looking at the list, it looks pretty meager so time to hit the research mode and see what else is out there - need some motivation to scare me into training through these short, cold days of old man winter.
It is crazy to think it is December already! Although retailers will not let us forget that as the bombardment of advertisements are coming fast and furious. It is amazing to me that some businesses really depend on this time period between Thanksgiving and Christmas to make or break their year. What might be even more amazing is that we as consumers enable this to happen by buying, buying, buying, and buying.
It reminds me of that bumper sticker 'I owe, I owe, it's off to work I go'
At this point, the body is healing (that is what I keep telling myself) and all those little nagging pains are getting a chance to recover. It makes me feel better to think this but there is always that guilt associated with the body being idle. However I do plan on changing that all up today. The plans include hitting a local gym and maybe even getting in a climbing session at a climbing gym. It could all get derailed based on time constraints, but yet again we will go with the intention for now.
This 'slow' time of year from a bike recreation perspective is a good time of year to start coming up with events for the upcoming year. Everything is still in its infancy stages in terms of ideas but everything must have a genesis...for now the ideas rolling around in my head include the High Cascades hundie, maybe the Puff again, maybe a 24 hr race or two (although I am sort of 'over' the 24 hour races - but never say never). Looking at the list, it looks pretty meager so time to hit the research mode and see what else is out there - need some motivation to scare me into training through these short, cold days of old man winter.
It is crazy to think it is December already! Although retailers will not let us forget that as the bombardment of advertisements are coming fast and furious. It is amazing to me that some businesses really depend on this time period between Thanksgiving and Christmas to make or break their year. What might be even more amazing is that we as consumers enable this to happen by buying, buying, buying, and buying.
It reminds me of that bumper sticker 'I owe, I owe, it's off to work I go'
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