Assholes with Guns in Capitol Forest

This shit really pisses me (and anyone else who works to make our parks and forest a better place) off.

Fuckers.

Jedi and Log Rides

Apparently rail-biking has improved the jedi skills. I rode "why not" on Capitulate at Banner last night 5 times non-stop and didn't dab. Very strange.

LOG RIDE IS FRIEND!!!!

Back in the Forest

I hooked up with some of my old friends in Capitol Forest today. 20 miles of hard riding, with some swoopy descents and reflex-testing corners.

Big thanks to Henry (on the left) for hosting us at his place and feeding us some BBQ afterward!

Josh toughed it out with us the whole day. Good to hang out with him!

Pete was in good form today. Hadn't seen him in a while either.

Todd, Jim, Josh, Pete, and yours truly

Soccer on the 4th!

Julie, Aaron, and I went to watch two matches at Qwest field on Saturday the 4th. Haiti vs Honduras, and Grenada vs USA. Julie went WAY overboard and got some killer seats with the drunken Hondurans (maybe Mexicans?) behind us. They blew their horns all game and were funny as hell to watch. ("More cerveza!!!!").

The Hondurans beat the Haitian team 1-0, and there was some wild play going on between the two!
We also spent a couple hours before the game having lunch and walking around town....

Don't worry, he used protection!

The US rocked the second game 4-0, and it was amazing to the the footwork and precision at that level of play.

On the way back we saw all sorts of fireworks, and found out that the city had added lights to one of the water fountains. Nice!

Happy Canada Day! (eh)

That's one of the things about those obnoxious desk calendars that are given as gifts during the holidays: Obscure dates and facts...

Last night Julie and I took Mason with us out to Banner. Little dude can rock some singletrack. I bought him some baggies with a chamois, and after the initial "diaper" comments he decided they were cool. He was solid for about 3 miles of singletrack and then faded. Probably didn't help that they went swimming earlier in the day and his calorie intake was a bit low. We took the road and minimum trails on the way back. Very impressed with his riding ability and speed for his age. He could be a terror in a few years!

First Sounders FC Game!!!

Got a great deal on tickets for the Sounders at work. Took the entire family (except Bridget who's in Bellingham theses days) for a day at the pitch in Qwest Stadium. Very impressed with the stadium, as well as the excellent seats behind the goal. Really doesn't look to be a bad seat anywhere in the house. The upper deck (used for football games) is closed off for the soccer games.

Today we watched the Sounders whoop up on the Colorado Rapids, 3-0. Amazing footwork, athleticism, and most of all the intense crowd. The kids TOTALLY dug it. First time in a while that no one complained or whined about anything. We even did our hair in blue and green (except the Great and Too Cool Aaron!)

Julie and I stimulated the economy. 5 jerseys, two scarfs, hot dogs, and drinks!! Thank heavens for Visa and two incomes!!!

Can't wait til July 4th. Julie went hog-wild and picked up tickets for the Gold Cup for Aaron, her, and myself. We'll get to see USA, Grenada, and two other teams in two matches!!! Woo-hoo!!

Rail Biking

Been fooling around with building railbikes to go explore abandoned railroads this summer. Mark and I headed out the other day to dial mine in. We discovered that wet track and rubber tires makes ZERO TRACTION!!! Note to self: Wait for a sunny day. Pretty slick being able to cruise the rails in a stupid single speed ratio with almost no effort.

Pretty cool way to see parts of the land you wouldn't be able to see otherwise. We worked through the winter building all the stuff, doing some mods from plans available on-line. Turns out that folks typically use old crappy cruiser bikes, not CAAD4 mountain frames! Even suspension turned out to compromise the rig.

Cannondale Carbon 29'er

Interesting tidbit from Twentynineinches.com on Cannondale's plan to release a carbon hardtail 29er. That's cool, but will Cannondale show they have a big sac and spit out a SS carbon 29er or a carbon Rush/Prophet in a 29er format? That would be pretty badass and put them in a good position. The Lefty is a wicked 29er fork in terms of stiffness, I'm just not a fan of aluminum HTs for any bike.

Congrats to Juju!!!

My brilliant and high achiever spouse was just accepted into the Masters program at the Univerity of Washington. She'll be stacking up on her accomplishment of a BSN from PLU. Way to go Juju!

Another Remodel

We're detonating Mason's old bedroom to turn it into an office/reading room/overflow closet. Did a total gut-out of it this weekend. NASTY!!!!!!!

So far I've rewired it, installed cable outlets, and slung some sheetrock back up. I have a weird wall that I need to some how bring marginally into plumb.

Yee-haw