I have a debt to even up...

I've got a debt to even up. One of these years, I'll get back on track. But as it sits right now, I'm down one summer and up one winter... A few years back Deanna and I went to New Zealand. It is a stunningly beautiful country and the people there are equally friendly. It was an amazing trip, and I wouldn't take it back for anything, but I can't tell you how hard it was for me to give up an entire summer, go back to winter just as it's starting to really get into summer weather in the Pacific Northwest. I love the heat. Summer is my favorite season, long days, hot weather. Energy everywhere.

2008 was a wetter, cooler spring then normal in Bellingham, then I left for winter in the Southern Hemisphere. Now, I know people who do this every year, follow the snow to the hemisphere where it's currently the cash crop. I'll be the first to tell you, I'm not and never will be one of those people. I like snow sports, they are fun, but I don't love them. The sports that I love, don't (usually) involve snow.

So I'm down a summer, my body and mind and soul are down on all that expected sunshine and energy that comes with it. En Zed was nice, exciting, new, strange, incredible. But it really made me realize, how badass this land is that I grew up (and continue to grow) in.

Some photos of our trip to En-Zed. It's summer there right now... (click photos, they get big)

We hiked the Abel Tasman track. A stunning hut system on the North tip of the South Island.

Waterfall on the West coast of the South Island.
The Alps of New Zealand.

This is 'merrca. you dunt liik it, you can git out.

A pool table and beer. The only thing that could have made it better would have been, a couple fingers of scotch, a cigar, tweed suits, some really cool hats, and definitly some badass jazz music in the background. Actually, I would have taken a pipe, but I bet Allen would have chewed the crap out of a cigar. Oh, and switch Allen's glasses for a monocle. Best out of seven. Winner does nothing (aside from talk a bunch of shit until the next round), loser has to harvest the rest of the lavender from the garbage bag of dry stalks that my mom got from a friend. The bar is set. The stage is set.

Welcome to the danger zone.

Highway to the danger zone.

Just found this GF beer in Corvallis. Never seen it before, but I know St. Peter's well. I loved their Porter and Amber back in the day, and this stuff did not disappoint at all.

The games were on fire. Allen started off pretty hot and I was in the hole from the beginning.

I ended up being stripes 5 out of 7 games.

Allen working his 8-ball magic. Final tally, Patrick 3, Allen 4. At least I'll be smelling nice for the next few days.

Talent is Overrated

Karate used to be a huge part of my life. Sometimes I miss it a lot. It's a beautiful thing, and it takes zero "gear". Cycling is decidedly a gear heavy sport. Karate, Yoga, qi gong, taiji, ki aikido, all are amazing arts to practice, and they require nothing but time.

Karate, the art itself is incredible. But it was these guys (and a couple other guys and gals) who kept me coming back. It was karate that taught me that any super-computer-nerd-engineer with zero coordination, and I mean ZERO, can become incredibly adept athletically. Being relatively coordinated at sports naturally, I've always thought the best were just 'born with it'. Not true. The best work the hardest for it. I watched floppy frogs turn into super badass karate practitioners. This summer this belief was reaffirmed, I read a book called, "Talent is Overrated". It talks about everyone, business people, chess masters, athletes, etc. All the best, Warren Buffet for investing, multiple chess grandmasters, athletes, they all worked with a dogged determination. But it was not just hard work, but a brutal honesty in their assessment of progress along the way, and developing very specific goals to bring about small improvement.

From Left to Right. Teppei, Jacob, Patrick, Andy, Jason, and Tim. Circa 2000.

Five on the 15th

These photos are from the Mackenzie River Trail in Oregon. For those who have never graced her sweet curves, yeah, you're really not missing anything. Don't bother checking it out. It's a long drive, in the middle of nowhere, I mean, what if something happened and you didn't get cell phone service and you couldn't make a twit on twitter about it right at that time. That would suck. It's really not a great trail anyway, so much hype...

Of the many times I've ridden this trail, the excitement is always the same. hot, cold, sunny, cloudy, raining... That wind in your perma-grinning face of almost 30 miles of whooping, shred-tastic festival single track of what the fuck it is to love mountain biking.

These are from a trip I did with good friends from Bellingham, Matt and Kevin. September, 2006. We rallied the waz out of that trail. (don't miss out, be sure to click on the images to make them bigger.)



Thanks to Matti for this sweet picture of myself - out of mind and body.


Kevin had a few flats on this ride, silly latex tubes...


Matti, cruisin true Oregon forestry. Kevin is fixing another flat, just outside the Right of the picture.


Kevin, trying not to take the big drink.


Matti and his stumpjumper - countless moments of blissful riding.

To see more photos from this ride, click here.

USGP Stanley Cup Photo Albums

Here are photos from the US Grand Prix of Cyclocross, Stanley Cup, Portland, Oregon. December 4th and 5th. On Saturday I made it out in time for the Elite Men's race, and on Sunday, I made both the Elite Men and Women's races.


Saturday, Elite Men

Sunday, Elite Women and Elite Men

2010 CX Nationals photo albums

If you want a race report, head to cyclingnews or velonews.com. But I will say this... If Fabian Cancellara is the "Raging Bull" of road racing, Ryan Trebon is the "Charging Bison" of cyclocross. Dude was turning himself inside out trying to pull back Todd Wells. He might be my favorite person to watch race a bicycle.

(hit the expando button in the bottom-right corner of the slideshows to get full screen viewing)

Elite Women

Elite Men

The Gargoyles

Is your house protected by Gargoyles? (even though, technically, Gargoyles are actually an architectural feature, designed to direct water from a roof, away from the sides of the building. The word originated from the French word, "gargouille" literally meaning "throat" or "gullet". ummm, booorring? In the interest to keep this blog "cool" or "rad" we're going to forget that Gargoyles are actually just fanciful gutters and remember that they actually protect the building (and therefore, the contents there in) from evil spirits.)

Cause my house is.

Meet Seldom.

He's one of our two kitties (his bro Oly will get a post of his own) that roams the house and terrorizes the flys and spiders of the interior, and sometimes birds - but mostly our chickens - of the exterior of the house.

He sometimes posts up and true to gargoyle style, keeps the place safe from evil for us. Here's the typical situation.

He'll start out a little something like this. Pretty chill, just watching, chilling, feeling the vibe.

He's tries one of these on.

A little of this...

Feels pretty good.

Evil spirits beware! I'm coming in HOT and you'd be smart to trot.

Gargoyle Seldom. This gargoyle situation can last up to, I dunno... 5-30min? Deanna, feel free to add your $0.02... But it's really rad.

But this is typically, what the whole situation leads to...
What a rough life. It's tough protecting the homestead. But someone's got to do it.

US Cyclocross National Championships

I'll be bringing photos from the Elite Women's and Elite Men's races tomorrow. Race times are 12:30 and 2:30, Sunday afternoon.

Stay Tuned...

Fair Warning

OK everyone. Mark your calendars. This is huge news...

drum roll please.....

Bellingham Mountain Bike Festival - Galbraith Mountain, May 7th and 8th, 2011!!!!!!!!

An honest to god, cross-country mountain bicycle race on Galbraith Mountain. (really it's just a hill, but a very proud hill)

AND!!!!

There is a SUPER D race on Sunday! There are no words to describe the awesomeness, and photos really don't do the place justice but here are some anyway. (if you click on the photos, they will get bigger and you'll see more neat details.)

Mt. Baker and the Twins..

Just let it out...

This post is about the weather. Not climate, as that's a completely different topic altogether. The weather, is what is happening right now. As climatology an interest of mine that I don't put a whole lot of study into (not anymore anyway), I was extremely happy when this website was passed along the grapevine. Simply put, it's just a super huge radar. But actually, it's a composite image of lots of different radar images, including Canada and the USA, rendering a freaking cool thing. It can rain a lot in the PNW, and sometimes you want to look around and have a laugh at who's being rained on when it's not your turn. Albeit, past few days have been particularly drenching for pretty much the entire Western seaboard.

Here are a few screen shots from the last couple days.

December 7th, 11:18pm


December 9th, 11:25pm

Check it out! ---> http://www.atmos.washington.edu/weather/radar.shtml

Thank you University of Washington for consistently having one of the most badass atmospheric science programs around!

Caveman, Prancer, Stink-eye, Radway, and more!

Please enjoy this tasty mud bath of photos, made possible by this years Cross Crusade at Portland international Raceway. Featured riders include, Erik "Caveman" Tonkin, Spencer "Prancer" Paxson, Alice "Stink-Eye" Pennington, Scott "Radway" Bradway, and myself.

A huge thanks goes out to Deanna for taking all the rad pictures. I highly recommend clicking the little box in the bottom-right corner of the slideshow to make it all full-screen-extreme.

Time (for) Travel

I've dove into the archives of photos that I have to bring some gems of days gone by. They are not in order at all. Feel free to comment, jest, rhyme, or just breathe and smile. For a larger view, simply click the photo.

Brother-from-another-Mother, Thomas, checking the map on the summit of Mt. Shucksan. Summer, 2006.

This is one of my most favorite meals that I've ever had. Dining with my Brother, Madrid, Spain, Summer 2005.

Google 'the mud'. nuf said. We were trying to "out-redneck the rednecks." The locals still kicked our asses. Good pal Joe "party-boy" Alonzo, on the right. Spring, 2006. Thanks to Michael Parelskin for the photo.

Italy, Summer 2005. Needless to say, my dinner date kept making stuff up, I stalked off before the main course.

Yours truly, big bike ripping, across the water from Hood River, OR. Spring, 2006.

Up top of Oyster Dome. Catchin' some air. Bellingham, WA. June, 2003.

Eye's on the prize. The summit pyramid looms in the lens. Mt. Shucksan, Summer 2006.

(L to R) Patrick, Kevin Hall, Chris Parrish, Matt Howell. On our way back from some bike racing in the Methow. 2006? And don't forget the mighty 4Runner, loaded to the brim with adventure.

Michael, tearing up the synewy goodness of the Syncline. Oregon, watching us closely across the water.

Spring break, 2006. Smith Rocks. Deanna, looking for a bit of Double Trouble.

Summer, 2005. Italy. My brother Johnny on the left.

2005? Bellingham, WA. The local food culture offers a fairly spectacular array of...

Artist's Point, Mt. Baker National Forest.

Dust of Snow

The way a crow

Shook down on me

The dust of snow

From a Hemlock tree

Has given my heart

A change of mood

And saved some part

Of a day I had rued.

-Robert Frost

The Daily Five

A cold day, I take a walk.

Out here, you see, I rarely talk.

wind and water, keeping time.

and now, but wait! I've made a rhyme.

A run, some food, and cheap ski boots.

a little nude, I find my roots.

yin and yang, provide the force.

This world's wind, but love, of course.

(please click on the photos for a larger view, I recommend it.)

details

Public transport enables a much more relaxing travel experience when in a big city.

Easy to know if you're on the wrong max line, this is the 'yellow' line.

Here is exactly how to amp up the vibe.