The Bigger Picture

This is where the family now huddles around in the evening and it provides us with comfort and a glow in the room that bring us cheer in these days without power. A Kersone heater or lantern is really all it is.

The power is out, has been for four days, it is quite an inconvenience compared to living with power in our daily lives but that doesn't mean we survive on just electricity alone. As you may know I live in what's called the sticks, not the boondocks but a wooded area so I know I will be among the last to get power and I am ok with that because I know the hospitals, fire stations, elderly and police need it far more than us. One day at a time is the name of the game and it's a learning progress which we already had a crash course in when the hurricane hit us 2 months ago. In a way it's a good thing because our day to day lives need to be put into perspective every once in awhile from the fuel we put in our tank to the toilets we flush. So so much goes on everyday with the luxury's and comforts of living in safe clean environment everyday of our lives. It makes me think of a visit I had in Ethiopia 2 years ago where I was put into perspective how some of us get to live. Why are some given so much and some so little. I imagine the answer will never be revealed, but really I could only imagine it's a lottery. When I was in Ethiopia, a small town in Dhera, the living conditions was that of only simplicity, a roof over their heads, worn and I mean WORN pair of sandals, some tattered clothing and a smile on their face. We were with my Wife's Dental team and we had just arrived to the small village where we were greeted with tremendous smiles despite the painful work that was ahead of the team. I then got to see first hand what life was outside of the capital city. The people were so amazingly friendly, I would walk around the grounds and have groups of locals following my every move and watching me like I was from outer space. The red hair and freckles hairy arms and tattoos were not helping me blend in too well either. But it blew me away how up beat and friendly and positive they were. We were there helping them as much as we could and in return I was left with a beautiful memory of their smiles and warm feelings the local people left with me. I forget all too much in the hustle and bustle of day to day life and with the power zapped out I more than ever think back to how little we need to survive and how MUCH we are offered! So when you flush that toilet, warm that left over food, take that hot shower, remember how truly fortunate you may be. So in conclusion I leave the smiles of Africa in memoir

Forgot Throwback Mondays again

When I first moved to Utah in the fall I got my season pass at Park City Ski Resort for a sum of $350 which is an absolute steal compared to what they charge for the junky small operations in VT and so forth. It was a pretty good season that year and probably one of the best since I had just moved and was enjoying myself to the fullest. Well when the snow melted my pass was good for mountain bike chair rides. The high speed chair only covered some 1,000ish feet of getting up the mountain which left still a lot to be covered. No great downhill trails were really near the lift so it wasn't worth it to do laps, which meant going up. For my East Coast Legs this was a tricky feat that I had to get used to with mountain biking in UT. Because anything in the Salt Lake area consists of 1,000+ up and 1,000 down..... there is no up and downs in between usually, just up and down. SO anyway this day was my first trip up to the backside of the Wasatch and found a moose on the way up to the lake.

Unhappy

power went out friday night and while the fire roared we awoke cold and without power as usual. Second time since hurricane we lost power and last time it was for 6 days and this time it could be even worse. One heck of a way to introduce LuAnn to the east, last years snow, hurricanes, and now this october snowfest.....The fire roared last night but filled our house with a little smoke and a coughin terrible smell of something burning that sent us downstairs to sleep. Bentley joined me on the couch and crowded me but kept my feet warm.........this is by far the worst.......Got a new car in the snowstorm mazda mx9, thing is sweet!

"The Art Of Flight"

Absolutely incredible snowboard film. This film is a tremendous achievement in both snowboarding and cinematography. I am so lucky to be able to see these athletes do such mind blowing tricks and able to watch it from the comforts of my couch. The movie was sponsored heavily from Red Bull and it really does show. Travis Rice continued to have a session with a tree that while he was spinning huge amazing tricks and able to time them to make contact with tree branches or just tapping the tree while some 40-50 feet in the air is absolutely mind blowing! See this movie, even if your girlfriend doesn't like snowboarding, the wilderness scenes could entertain small children!

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Line St @ Case

Got out on another ride before the rain and possibly snow hits! Before the ride I was at the vets with Bentley, he has been having small vomits in his mouth on and off for the last few weeks. They come and go and never make it out of his mouth and all else is normal. So with a few acid blocker medicines we hope he is on the way to a speedy recovery. Paul joined us at 5:30 for the ride at Line st which is a different location than we normally start off from which was cool. We headed off and my legs were feeling terrible. The last ride was the day before and I have certainly ridden more and less and not felt so crappy. Powered through the warm up and the legs were not offering much power but at least the sore was over. Made our way to purple from the summit and then shot down mountain until we had to start climbing back up which lead up to par 4 which going in this direction was more of a par 10 for me. After taking that beating we were back on blue on some familiar ground and making up some distance. Blue is one rocky mother, I always feel bad for Bentley riding behind me with those tall rocks, but when he comes home and I look him over he appears unscathed. Which lead me to wonder if I put a light facing the rear of my bike if it might offer him some great vision or just blind him. Anyway the ride continued and Paul led us down the the reservoir where we headed uphill and rode the fun trail up on the hillside. I have yet to hear a name for it, but it's a fun new smooth downhill trail. I am desperately missing steep mountains and long downhills. I miss Utah riding tremendously, the early morning climbs into the alpine wilderness and the never ending 2,000ft descents. I enjoy riding in CT for sure but the riding around Salt Lake I would take any day! After we were done descending we hit the reservoir where we made our way back to the car. A solid mellow ride that lasted two hours and some 10 miles was an accomplishment on my tired legs. Rain and maybe even snow on the way tonight as well as Saturday so riding is not looking good for this weekend........Oh yea, my brake lever bolt popped out of place and left me without a brake so I popped a stick in it's place and it worked great!

Line st @ case

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Hale Night Time

Met up with Paul and Pat for a ride last night at Hale for 5:30. Had a quick ride from the house to the trail with Bentley running by my side. That ride from my house to Hale never gets old. Gears were slipping away as my bike has gotten sick of politely asking for a tune up. I now am down to the small ring since my middle ring keeps spitting the chain off onto the lower gear when it's under heavy torque. Also the tires have been rubbing on the chasis and I am definitely going to size down to 2.4inch next set of tires. Now that my frustration is kind of out on with the ride. We took a loop that had us doing counter clockwise and with some newish stuff thrown in there. I love this ride and have become familiar with it it gets better every time, having the gears has been very very nice lately. The Single speed has some kind of resistance in the bottom bracket so both bikes are giving me trouble right now. Which makes seeing that tanuki on chainlove.com all the much more desperate. The ride was good and things began to get dark as we climbed up and up and up and then things mellowed for awhile which was really nice. I have never ridden the last bit of trail before squiggle reverse like we did, it was very enjoyable and flat which is always nice for me. I was playing catchup most the ride with Bentley by side on and off. No matter how much I ride I just don't have the stamina most the guys I ride do, I wonder what I am doing that seems to make me a bit slower. I always have been slower in the rides and continue to always be and I am ok with that I just wonder if I did something different would I be faster....... Bentley stays a lot more organized when I am in back and I enjoy his company. He has been very enthusiastic on rides lately and it makes me quite happy. I pedaled on home in hopes of a ride tonight before the rain comes home.

Hale cool night

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Forgot Throw Back Mondays

I got carried away with a few posts yesterday and forgot about my new throw back Monday I put into effect. So in effort to stick to it I bring you...

This was a ride from September 2008, It was another beautiful day out on the Wasatch crest trail. Being fall there were some leaves changing color and the camera did not do it justice but it captures it for the most part. This is on the way up Puke hill by Guardsman's Pass. Which runs up little cottonwood which happens to be where Brighton and Solitude ski Resorts are located. If you look close in one of the pics it shows Solitude.