Trinidad

Ryan and I spun 37 miles to Trinidad in 2 hours 10 minutes. The weather was warm and calm along the coast.

Ryan on Scenic Drive

I knew right away that I had done too much cross-training yesterday. The squats and lunges left my legs with no power.

my bike taking a break, enjoying the view

In the end it was probably a good thing since it forced me to spin a faster cadence. Professional rider can push their pedals 120 times a minute, twice the rate of an amateur cyclist.


This is Kelly new-used Downhill bike that I'm tuning up.

Beef!

Kona Stinky Dee-lux

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Transition Bike Company

The people at Transition Bikes make awesome promo clips.

An epic ride on a simple bike is what I see when I close my eyes.

2nd B-Day 4 JBG!

2 years ago I decided to blog about my quest to conquer XC racing at the Sea Otter Classic, the largest cycling event in North America.

Hopefully you've seen JBG both grow and developed over the years. This is post #130!

April will be the 20th anniversary of the Otter and I plan to race again. Downhill this year? I love Monterey's trails and the big-time race environment.


One of the most powerful aspects of racing the Otter is the ability to gain national recognition in a single race. Jumping through bureaucratic hoops to get a California teaching credential is a stark contrast. At the Otter performance speaks and your ranking is not assigned by a multiple choice/short answer test.

my Monocog is seeing good use in the winter mud

The Humboldt hills are calling my quads.
Come February, it's training time!

JBG
Sea Otter 08

Sea Otter 09

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Trinidad

From a human perspective nature can seem static. The forest appears identical year to year, the mountain is always the mountain, and (baring a natural disaster or human "progress") landscapes remain the same.

In the unstable coastal mountains of Humboldt the earth itself is imbued with the spirit of change. The land slides, waves break, and rivers cut new paths. It has been 2 months and a week since my last trip to Trinidad and much has changed.

35 miles to Trinidad in 2 hours 30 minutes

The mouth of the Mad River is a popular spot for harbor seals. Their home has been redecorated with tons of driftwood from stormy seas. The river is cutting its way north into the sand bank.

The broken, swerving, dipping coastal road has some fresh pavement. During the past years Scenic Drive has moved up to 20 feet and is now a single gravel lane in spots.

beautiful views, ugly road

I've never known a place half as well. I'm approaching 8 years in Humboldt and today I felt connected to the land in a new way. In such a dynamic environment, it feels as if we're friends growing old together. I reminisced about my first rides and how different we looked.

It feels strange to know a place. Strange and comforting.

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America hits 1%

The data collected last year suggests that bike trips accounted for 1% of all trips from home. This is a 25% rise over the 2001 stats.

League of American Bicyclist.

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From Copenhagenize.com, new railings installed by the city for cyclist to lean on while waiting for traffic lights.

The footrest reads, "Hi, cyclist! Rest your foot here... and thank you for cycling in the city."

Now that's accommodation!

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Night Ride ACF

Eight or so riders met up at 6:30 downtown. I haven't used my high power light in years. It seemed dimmer and the light was very yellow (dying battery). I could tell from the start that caution was the word of the night.

Half way up into the woods we rode into the mist and my glasses fogged over. At this point it was impossible to tell what I was rolling over. I hugged the back tire of Larry since he has nice lights.

In some ways its fun to ride in a pack, but I don't think I'll be night/group riding again anytime soon. Unless we're carpooling to a distant trail-head I prefer to ride solo and in the day!

fixed a broken spoke

swapped a cog

changed tires-

rain or no, Wednesday night I'm riding the forest.

Too long without bikes, far too long.

Earthquake

Heather and I ran out of the house at 4:27 PM as a 6.5 gave Arcata a good shake. In the driveway the cars bounced left to right as the muddy soil beneath danced like jello.

SFgate: pictures, video


At the marsh hundreds of night herons are nesting. They all took to flight as the trees thrashed around.

Night Heron

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Cool Xmas Gifts

I finally mailed thank U's.

Thoughtful gifts always add to the holiday season.

Here are the few of this years gems.

9V LEDflashlight.

Go utilitarianism!

for the chocolate lover

Trader Joe's Chocolate Palette

Taste eight 60-73% cocoa samples from around the globe.

Modern classrooms rooms often have a digital projector (think PowerPoint presentation). I used gift moola to purchased a low budget alternative to use while student teaching.

PC to TV $45

The EeePC netbook it's hooked up to is also new (Nov JBG).

Thanks everyone. Happy new year.

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Redwood NP