winter is here

We ran into these two

Winter is here. There is a ton of snow, pretty low snow in fact. But yesterday was a beautiful day, cold and sunny. Hollie and I went up to Royal Gorge, www.royalgorge.com
After an 18 month break from skiing we hit the trails. IT WAS FANTASTIC. I quickly remembered how awesome our life is!
Off the couch I ski raced today. I did the 10km freestyle event at Pacos fun race. surprisingly I won my age group, MM2 and ended up 12th over all. good times.

In way over my head

Saturday ride. Sam, "The Man" took me on an epic today...and I was in over my head for about 25 miles of it...big time. We did happen upon some awesome riding, weather and views.

This picture was the easy part and does not look as steep as it was in this photo. I got my ass kicked on this steep, first gear, minimal line, ass bouncing around. Loose, technical and unforgiving.

Yes, I was worked. I stalled about 3 times and dumped it twice. I cant believe how tired I was. Good news: I got through it and I think I am a better rider for it. I did a little damage to the bike today. The throttle cable is not working properly, the right fork leg is leaking oil and my headlights are going on and off when I clutch. weird. But the 640 handled everything (including me) and we got another high route done bfore the snow!
Now I am drinking beer and waiting for my soreness to begin!

Taking a longish lunch

Wednesday afternoon, I met up with my bud Sam for lunch...and I never came back to work. We put in about 140 miles on the dirt bikes, and about 110 of those miles were off road. SICK.
The half way point...thats why the pic is half of me and half of the bike. We stopped here for a bit to take in this beautiful spot.
Sam checking out the Sierra Buttes and taking note of what an awesome camp spot we were parked in

Sam and the bikes at Jackson Meadows Res. Here we had to put some more clothes on, we had gained about 5000 ft elevation and the sun was on its way down

That ride was a blast. I am hoping to get out this weekend for something a little longer!

back yard spin

Perfect weather. Fall is coming. It is making for some nice riding. That is Purdon Crossing in the background. The bridge crosses the south fork of the Yuba River.
The KTM 640 Adventure. I am having a lot of fun on this bike. I want to get in one High Route trip before the snow comes...I am thinking this weekend.
The South Fork is looking sad. We need rain and snow in a big way!

Mexico quickie

MEXICO NIGHT LIFE

I dont know why there is a scowl on my face...maybe I missed my nap. But the turtle work must go on...nap or not! The turtle shifts would start around 8 pm and end as late as 4am

BIG 'OL GIRL

This old timer did her thing. Basically we would wait for turtles to come on shore and dig a nest. this could take anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour. Once the nest was dug the turtle will lay eggs the size of ping pong balls...50 to 150 eggs per nest. The turtle then hides the nest and goes back to sea. We, then locate the nest and remove the eggs. Making note of the nest location, number of eggs and if any are broken and time. We then renest the eggs in a nursery. This insures safety from the poachers. 45 days later....

BABY TORTUGA~~~

Every night we would release about 200 of these suckers out to the ocean. The little buggers run down the beach towards the white of the waves. In this time they get oriented to their location and the females will return to this beach to nest! The babies have a sack that allows them 3 days of food and oxygen. This allows them to go deep and try to survive. only 1 in 500 make it to maturity.

HOLLIE AND NEGRA

Hollie waiting for a turtle to lay her eggs, hanging out with Negra. Negra was a stray dog who would meet us every night on the beach and guard us during our shift. Sweetest dog!

BEACH TIME

Well that is enough for now. We did get some day time beach too. KILLER.
I will post more about our trip later!

doing some lumber jackin'

JACK OF ALL TRADES AND MASTER OF NONE

BIG 'OL SUGAR PINE

Ran the saw for 6 hours yesterday and this bugger is still not all bucked up. I got all teary eyed running th saw all day yesterday without my chain saw buddy...

CELL PHONE SCALE

Two Wheels and What nots

ALMOST FINISHED

Since NO ONE gave me any feed back on the fork choice on my 29'er I had to go it alone. I can only deduce that no one reads my blog or no one cares about bikes...??? Well, that wont stop me. I put on a Rock Shock REBA and I am stoked. I got a sweet hook up on a new '08 fork with 80 mm of travel. I cant wait to ride it. What am I waiting for? Wheels. I have to wait until I get back from Mexico to get my wheels. The wheelset will be from WTB, Laser Disc Trail with some 2.1 Nano Raptor tires. Gonna be sweet. So what am I riding now? I am using most of my parts off my old 26" bike so I had to get creative.

THAT IS A ONE SPEEDER

I put the Paul moto lite rim brakes back on, dusted off a 1978 campy super record derailleur and made it into a chain tensioner...its now a single speed. I know, I have talked plenty of smack about the single speed sub class, but since this is all I can afford I figured I would build it up. Plus, how can you hate something you have never tried. I have been on 2 rides and I have to say riding the SS is kind of fun. dont tell. I am running a 32 x 17, which might not be the right gear. I am thinking 34 x 17 or 32 x 15...we will do some more riding and go from there.