Movin' on up...

Well not to jinx the whole housing situation but we are in position to close the sale of our house in Tucson later this week or early next week. We just spent a lovely weekend in Tucson loading up all of our remaining belongings into a Uhaul 26 foot "Superhauler" and I drove it up this morning which was a real treat. The truck is surprisingly powerful and has no problem pulling 60 mph up the monster hills of I-17 as you climb up from the valley. Now we just have to figure out where we are going to put all of our junk. We took a ton of stuff to Goodwill before we left Tucson but now that we have to find places for the rest of our stuff we may be donating some more stuff. Downsizing and simplifying is a good ideal to strive for anyway albeit sometimes hard to attain. We now have a real bed in our spare bedroom which will be a lot nicer for anyone who cares to come and visit us and the old futon mattress fits conveniently under the bed so there is a spot for little kids that visit also. While we were in Tucson we went to the movies and watched Charlie Wilson's War which was really good and very informative historically. The message at the end is all too familiar. I would highly recommend seeing it.

Recovering from the festivities

Christmas is now officially over and the craziness is quickly subsiding. We arrived home a few days ago from Kansas City where we celebrated another Christmas with Anne's parents. Anne was feeling particularly crazy after receiving some great clothing items. She had to excuse herself and put all of the items that she got on at once but I think she was flustered because she forgot that the underwear goes under the rest of the clothes so she had to compromise and put them on the outside. While we were in KC we received and offer on our house in Tucson and unless something goes wrong we hopefully will have it sold within the next week (more on that when it happens for sure). We will be heading out tomorrow to retrieve the rest of our stuff which we are hoping we have enough time to load up (and maybe go for a ride or two). We saw a few movies some at the theater and some at home. Here is a list of what we saw:Walk Hard the Dewey Cox Story, Juno, Good Night and Good Luck, Night at the Museum, Van Wilder the Rise of Taj and maybe some others that I don't remember. I enjoyed them all. Juno had some dialogue during the first half of the movie that was attempting to be way to hip and was on the ridiculous side but the second half made up for it. Good Night and Good Luck was very interesting from a historic perspective and the cinematography was really interesting. The other movies were just good old fashion comedies which of course I enjoy more that Anne.

Back from a trip to the Homeland II

On the day that Anne and I left for New Mexico to celebrate Christmas with my family the cold had finally come in and the moisture was turning to snow. I snapped a photo from the hospital on the way out of town and got a good idea of the cold that I believe is here to stay. Today I got up early and hit the slopes for day one on my season pass. It was around 0 degrees with the wind up there and only the Sunset Lift was open which made it very crowded and I only stayed for a couple of hours. You can only ski the same 5 runs so many times. On our trip to NM we first went to my parents house where my brother's family joined us for a Christmas celebration. I got a good picture of my two nieces riding around in Hannah's Christmas present from my parents with my Dad looking on. The next day was spent making traditional tamales with my grandma Rose. I took a photo of Anne at her station where she was in charge of spreading the masa in the corn husks then she would pass them to me for the red chile pork and I would then wrap them in another husk and tie them then I would pass them on to my grandma and she would put them in the pressure cooker and steam them. Anne and I went to Santa Fe for a Christmas celebration with my grandparents on my mom's side. We went out to a great Italian dinner downtown Santa Fe and the next day played some heated dominos. I got my grandma Nancy's french bread recipe which I made today with whole grain spelt flour instead of white wheat flour. Tonight at dinner I will test it to see how it came out. It looks and smells really good. After some time at my grandparents it was off to Rio Rancho for a couple of days at my brother's house with the nieces which was a great time. On the way home we decided to go through Tucson for skis and miscellaneous other stuff so by the time we got home we had turned a 4 hour trip into an 11 hour trip so today I have been trying to get some stuff straightened and put away.

It could at least snow if it's gonna be cold

I woke up this morning and looked out the front door and what did I see? You guessed it....RAIN! I can't believe how much rain we are getting with this new storm that is hitting this weekend and the one that hit last weekend. It just refuses to snow but at least it is snowing at Snowbowl (I hope). I saw on the news that an oil tanker in Korea is spewing its 3 million gallons of oil into the ocean right now due to some poor boatmanship. The good news just keeps pouring in. On a lighter note I saw an interesting graphic on the bottom of a six pack of Alaskan Winter Ale that shows the state of Alaska places over the lower 48 and just how huge Alaska is. It is quite different from the maps we are used to seeing where Alaska and Hawaii share the same page and both put together look smaller than Rhode Island. I threw in another picture from the backcountry below Truchas Peaks taken in November at about 12000 feet as friend Robert and I ushered in winter. It was between 7 and 8 PM and the sun had been down for about 3 hours and you can see how comfortable it is as I'm wearing my down jacket and I'm nestled into my down sleeping bag. Who says winter camping is no fun? I am noticing right now that the news is of course talking about the same thing over and over and that is the Omaha mall shooting which is to be expected since the press hangs onto stories like this until they can't hang on any longer. No wonder that the bastards that commit these atrosities know their actions will make them famous. Lastly a note on gun control (I'll share some of my personal views of course). I don't think that total gun control is the answer and although the "right to bear arms" is one of our rights living in this country (although our country was slightly different when our forefathers came up with these rights) I do have one thing to say. Assault rifles are designed for one purpose; TO KILL PEOPLE! Way to go NRA glad that you fight so hard to make it perfectly legal to have assault rifles in everyone's closets. That's it I'm off the soapbox.

Mud, mud, mud some rest and a squirrel

Today I pulled the Turner out of the garage since it was a balmy 55 degrees and sunny here in Flag and headed out for the trails. I had made it about 1 mile on pavement when the mud started and continued until I was spit out onto the gravel in Buffalo Park which was totally saturated and it felt like riding through wet concrete. The end of the road in BP transitioned into more three inch deep mud single track that was, what I imagined, just the beginning of the slop. At this point I decided just to make a u-turn and head for the main road back home. Today was day 8 on the bike so I just decided to clean up the Turner when I got home and call it a rest day. The biggest tree squirrel in the world was busy gathering food while I was in front of the house and I was worried that it would carry any small children away that happened across it's food gathering past.

"And what business is it of yours where I'm from, Friendo?"

I have read a few books lately that were all great. I had to read No Country For Old Men before I went to the movie and successfully pulled that one off and was able to catch the movie over the weekend. The movie was very good and I felt the major parts of the book were in the movie at least enough to give people a good representation of the book. The Climb is also a good book and if you read Into Thin Air than this book is a must read. The book Bobke II is a compilation of journals of Bob Roll's daily life when he was a professional cyclist while in Europe competing and his adventures both abroad and domestically. I also got the movie 300 which I thought was pretty awesome especially visually, it was just a cool movie to watch. Anne's mom gave us these cool advent calendar stockings and went through the trouble of making sure there were yummy chocolates in all of the pockets. I have been riding the trainer quite a bit due to my cold that is lingering on. The snow and moisture finally came to Flagstaff over the weekend and it made it easier to deal with the trainer. Tomorrow it is supposed to be in the 60's so I will head out for a long mountain bike ride. 60 degrees in December is ridiculous. I think it is supposed to be almost 80 in Tucson but what can you do? I hope everyone out there is well and is dealing with the holiday season accordingly.

Pluggin' Away

Today's post is a bit on the boring side and I blame it all on the weather here in Northern Arizona. Apparently it is going to take awhile to get used to the cold in regards to cycling time outside. There still has not been any moisture for the longest time now and I would brave the cold except for the fact that I am getting over a cold and did not do anything for the week after backpacking. I have been riding the trainer for the past couple of days and will continue for the majority of the week and then we will see if it snows this weekend. The Warren Miller Ski Movie is in showing in Flag this Saturday so maybe that will usher in the snow. I said that this post would be boring and I don't have much more to offer.

Back from a trip to the Homeland

I have recently returned home from a two week trip to New Mexico where I was born and raised sandwiched in between the beautiful Jemez and the Sangre de Cristo mountain ranges. While in New Mexico I met up with a good friend of mine Robert and did some backpacking and climbed some peaks on a nine day trip into the Sangres. We started with a couple of days in the Pecos Baldy Lake area where we visited the summit of East Pecos Baldy at 12,529 feet. The fishing in the lake was below average and we made a break for the Truchas Lakes area via Trail Rider's Wall. Trail Rider's Wall was ridiculously windy probably blowing 40+ with a temperature around the freezing mark which made for an uncomfortable hike for 3 miles of total exposure at 12,000 feet. Once a camp was established at Truchas Lakes we were able to make it over to the summit of North Truchas Peak via a chute on the NW side of the peak. North Truchas Peak is at 13,024 feet. The next day we decided not to go up the ridge to the three other peaks due to the weather so we went over for a quick run up Chimayosos Peak at 12,841 feet. The following day we decided that we had to get up the ridgeline to Truchas Peak even though the weather was still not favorable. We made it up unscathed and stood on the second highest point in NM at 13,102 before we proceeded over to Middle Truchas Peak at 13,066 then to an unnamed peak along the same ridgeline that stands just over 13,000 feet before we dropped off the ridge just before dark to head back to camp. The rest of the trip was just taking a very long way back to the truck to make a loop out of the hike where we fished a bit and did some general sightseeing on the Santa Barbara Divide which is an outstanding piece of country that the Skyline Trail traverses all above 12,000 feet. The lack of snow this year and the lighting due to the time of day made this area glow with bright gold due to all of the grass still remaining which explain the abundance of bighorn sheep that we saw. My trip finished with a visit to the family for Thanksgiving which was great to see everyone and to get to play with my nieces for a couple of days. Due to not having my camera charged with me I do not have any photos from after backpacking. I returned to Flagstaff to get to celebrate Thanksgiving again with Anne's parents which was also a lot of fun and food. (The top photo above is taken from East Pecos Baldy of the Truchas Peaks and the second picture is of Robert and me on top of Middle Truchas Peak. Sorry about the fact that part of my head is missing but the second photo I took to correct this was blurry)

Some days you just have to drive

Yesterday I found myself in my car heading for the trailhead at Fort Valley to go for a bit of a singlespeed ride. I just wanted to get to the trail without having to ride the connecting route It was a good ride and the weather is still pretty dialed in the mid 60's. Anne and I then spent the afternoon at the movies watching American Gangster which was very well done and the acting was acceptable. All in all a pretty good day.

A Day of Fishing in Red Rock Country

Today we went down to the Wet Beaver Creek Wilderness for a little bit of fishing. The first photo is of me and a rainbow that was a little feisty on the line but when it was said and done it came ashore at about 10-12 inches. The second is of Anne and her new fly rod which garnered some nibbles but nothing landed. I also received a call from the city of Flagstaff about the job that I interviewed for with the fire department and apparently I was not their man and did not get chosen for the position. I guess more riding and some backpacking are in my future along with keeping my eyes open on the job front. I will be heading for the homeland this weekend with my friend Robert to go up in the Sangre de Cristo mountains for awhile.

Some Brilliant Idea?

I had a brilliant idea about a week ago and that was to supplement my cycling with a couple of days per week of running. My theory was that when it gets cold it will be a good way to get a workout in, keep my legs strong and lessen the wind chill compared to the bike. I apparently did not remember how much running sucks but will stick with my plan and see if it helps with my overall fitness. Anne dragged me down into Walnut Canyon via the Arizona Trail and made me suffer a bit. She took the written boards yesterday and now had a few days off so we ran errands today and went for a run and tomorrow we are going to check out the fishing in the red rock country about 40 miles south of Flagstaff. I am not used to being able to go out for some trout since there was absolutely no trout around Tucson. We'll see if we have any luck.

Back from a weekend in Tucson

Well I made it back from Tucson relatively unscathed today after a good weekend. I went down on Friday with a quick stop in the greater Phoenix area at Mcdowell Mountain Park to ride the Pemberton Trail. I was just checking it out to see if I wanted to register for the Dawn to Dusk race on December 1st out there. I then continued down to Tucson and drank a couple of beers and ate sushi with friends David and Michelle. Saturday held a bunch of packing, a ride at Fantasy Island and a good Beyond Bread breakfast with David, then off to the Bookman's 30th Anniversary Party at Reid Park with Michelle. Bookman's owner threw a free party with a feature performance by Calexico with Salvador Duran and Mariachi Luz de Luna. The show was outstanding and there were at least a couple of thousand people there. Today I came back to Flagstaff and brought the pressure cooker and all the green chile from the freezer up and promptly put it all to good use. Yum Yum. Waiting for me when I got home was my new seatpost for my road bike. Thomson makes some really pretty and strong stuff. This is to replace my crappy carbon fiber post that I have now. My words of advice if anyone is looking for a new post. Go with a Thomson, period.

The Pay'nTake

Tonight I headed down to the Pay'nTake (the best place to drink a pint in Flagstaff) and I took the only seat open at the bar and much to my chagrin I was able to strike up a conversation with Bryce who owns AZ Bikes (a local Flagstaff bike shop) and we proceeded to drink a couple of beer and discuss bikes and bike racing and various local bicycle personalities most of whom I do not know at this time but I have only been in this town for a short while. Keith, who was pouring us beer, is apparently the future of Flagstaff triathletes and I found out that just about everyone who frequents the Pay'nTake rides a bike. As the night progressed my conversation with Bryce took on two main topics. The first was who was better Lemond or Armstrong. Bryce arguing for Lemond and me for Armstrong due to reasons that we both thought out weighed each others. The second topic was that local bike builder Steve Garro is just a bad ass. He has had much more contact with Steve but his sentiments were right on with the opinions that I have formed which are basically first impressions. I am not sure which of the old saying falls into place for the people of this town but it is one of the two. Cyclists with drinking problems or drinkers with cycling problems. Take your pick and have a good night.

A couple days worth...

Well I have actually been doing a few things starting on Sunday with a hike up Humphrey's with good friend Robert who was on his way back from the backcountry of the Sierra heading to Tucson and decided that he had to check Humphrey's off his list since he has lived in AZ forever but never been up to the top of the state. I should have some pics of the hike but he took the photos and I did not get them off his camera before he left. Monday afternoon I went to an interview which is why I took a goofy self portrait of me wearing a tie. I have not been to an interview since college and it definitely showed by how crappy the interview went. It is a fire job that I am fully if not overly qualified for but doubt highly it will be offered to me. I should know tomorrow one way or the other. I decided to start running again to cross-train for some additional leg and cardio strength and I ran yesterday for a total of just over three miles and today I went riding and thought my hamstrings were going to blow out of my legs. Hopefully tomorrow I can get a long ride in and my legs will feel better. I put a photo of Anne and my jackolantern's in to wish everyone a Happy Halloween! We had a bunch of little kiddos trick or treating tonight which is a big change from the 3 kids we had total in Tucson for the entire time we lived there. Nothing like handing out a bunch of sugar (the white devil) to the future of this country. I can't blame em' though because for those of you who don't know me I have a bit of a sweet tooth I just choose not to eat the candy these days. I was over at Steve Garro's house/shop today hanging out talking bikes and giving him some measurements for a bike he will be building for me. He is pretty much a stud being a former endurance mountain bike racer before being hit by a car. He has been building bikes for awhile and after he was hit had all his tools adjusted so he could still weld and build bikes. He seems to always be in good spirits and making the best of everything. If anyone happens to be reading this check out his web site at www.coconinocycles.com.

Salt, Piles and Safety

I was getting ready to go riding on Saturday and I pulled my helmet and gloves out of the closet and I realized that I had been riding a ton but not really cleaning any of my gear. I had begun creating a salt mine on my helmet straps and in my gloves that I probably ought to wash one of these days. While riding the trails in Fort Valley it is very easy to notice evidence of prescribed fire activity from the past and current projects. I snapped a photo of some large burn piles that the trail winds through on the section close to the Snow Bowl road. Hopefully we get some good snow this winter so they can burn these monstrosities. The last item of the days is just something to pay attention to while recreating especially in these fire areas and areas with lots of dead trees. Weakened trees fall down all the time and people get hurt and killed from them. People need to be aware that even though they're having a good time outdoors that it is not a controlled environment. The high winds a couple of weeks ago brought down trees on the trails all around flagstaff including the most popular of the trails, the Humphey's Peak Trail. Be careful in the woods because YOUR SAFETY IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY!

What in the hell?

So today I rode up the Schultz Pass Road to the Waterline Road and part of the way up I notice a good amount of smoke coming up from a fire to the east and as ridiculous as it seems I took a picture of the smoke. I must not have gotten enough of that over the last ten years. I may need to seek some help for my problem.

Can't beat fall in the Southwest

Well after the cold front of last week was pushed out of here by some high pressure the temperatures have been incredible. Today must have hit about 70 and not a cloud in the sky. I went riding up the Schultz Pass road after my usual connecting route through Buffalo Park. I was on the one speed due to my other bike being in the shop. Once I got to the top of the pass I jumped on the Schultz Creek Trail which is a great trail to descend on (also a good trail to climb but just not today) and took a few photos at the top. One photo of the top of Agassiz Peak and one of the bike. I came across many people out on the trail today enjoying the weather and some riding. Lots of friendly greetings and no sign of any bitter people (except some in cars that I came across later in the day), it just doesn't make any sense why some people on the trail are just crusty. Are you not having a good time out there? Are you really just too cocky or think that your training is going to suffer if you say hello or give a bit of a wave? Lighten up and have a good day!

Retroactive post of fall colors

I find as it get colder and we continue to have very windy days all of the remaining color left in the trees is going fast. I came across this picture from two weeks ago taken on the way to Telluride just outside of Rico, CO. I usually don't stop too much when I am trying to get somewhere but we had to stop and snap a few photos.

Just a couple of quick issues

Well today was a day to fear. Cold enough and windy enough outside that I had to throw the road bike on the trainer for some fun and exciting indoor cycling. I had better get used to it, I am not in Tucson anymore apparently.

This is a photo of the last of the goods brought back from Colorado two weekends ago.

My wife and I had every intent to drink it while we were there and pick up another sixer on the way home but an acute bout of food poisoning had us enjoying Telluride puking in trash cans and spending the better part of three days laying on the couch watching bad television and sleeping. Nothing like paying for that abuse. A little bit about the beer in the photo. It is named 90 Shilling and it is from the Odell Brewing Company which I discovered when I lived in Colorado for three fire seasons. It is not available in Arizona to my knowledge and that is a shame. Odell is overshadowed by the big Fort Collins brewery that sells beer everywhere but Odell's beer is definitely superior especially 90 Shilling.

Shot of the Sunset Trail last week

I was up on the Sunset Trail last week and took this photo before heading down the trail. Finding aspens with color is getting tougher and tougher up high. I fear that the snow and brutal cold is just around the corner.

Obsurd people outside hospitals

I have recently witnessed many people in many different level of poor health as patients hanging out outside of hospitals in wheelchairs mostly and wearing hospital gowns. I would like to think that these people are enjoying the sun light, nature, good conversation etc. but I have come to know better. These absurd people are just attempting to decrease the amount of time they spend away from the hospital by lighting up the ol' cancer stick. It must be rough to not even be able to get through a hospital visit without having to go smoke a few cigarettes.