What's the weather like in Doug's neighborhood?

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Light on the blogging

As always, this time of year the riding is less. Family and Holiday business takes the drivers seat. The blog gets the short end of the stick. I would say the back seat, but I think it either is in the trunk or thrown out the window. Sorry, not much to write about unless you want to hear the full details on the Holiday shopping, my workday, or random findings on the internet.

I have managed to sneak a few rides in this month, but it pales in comparison to how much saddle time I got in last month. Riding this month has either been cold or wet. I actually rode in snow on the 6th. Still kicking myself for not having the camera along for that ride. The trails have been in a constant state of slippery. You are either on mud, soft soil, leaves, or riding mud-packed tires ontop of wet rocks. It's riding, so I will take it as I can get it. But the pace is slower and the elements harsher so I might whine about it.

Oddly, as I sit here and complain about weather, it has been in the upper 40's and lower 50's all week with sun to boot. There is a thunderstorm prediction for tomorrow though, so trails should remain mucky for a while longer. On a positive note, the days are once again getting longer and spring is again just around the corner.

Happy Holidays. Thanks to all the nice people who have sent cards and gifts our way. They are really appreciated this time of year.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Old School

Fortunately I just caught the end of this clumsy era in BMX history. Most of this morphed into flatland or vert riding disciplines. Some cool bike handling going on though.

Monday, December 7, 2009

Can't make it here anymore

Good little tune by James McMurtry


Came across this in my random interweb wanderings. Good for a listen. Sad but true.

Weekend recap:
Erin has been sick the last couple days. Nothing much going on around the house. Jenny and Robert were in town Friday and I dropped them off at the airport Saturday afternoon. It was nice to have some company in the house. Erin truly appreciates any time she can get with her mom.
We managed to get the tree up and decorated. I think this year will likely be the final year of the fake tree. Now that the kids and dogs are getting older we can start back on real trees for the holidays. I somehow managed to avoid doing any additional decorating. But I can only procrastinate so long.
Saturday evening was my company Christmas party. It was a nice gathering. A few more faces than last year. Jim and Brenda always do a nice job of making it a fun evening of fellowship for the employees. I walked out with a nice ornament from the white elephant exchange.

Riding?
I managed a couple of shorter rides up in the Land Trust. Friday was just an out and back up Toll Gate Trail. I ended up off work early due to a software upgrade, so I figured it best to hit the trails :) Saturday was tanked by obligations, but Sunday I was clear for a ride. I ended up meeting up with a group of NASA scientists whom I had not ridden with before. It was nice to get out and meet some new people. Snow was still clinging to most of the horizonal branches of trees, but not much was on the ground. Obviously that means it was cold. Temperature was hovering about 40-43 degrees. Fortunately I do have some cold weather gear, so it was not a major issue. Traction on the other hand was somewhat an issue. The wet and cold made for slick rocks/roots. All things considered I was glad to be out riding regardless of the conditions.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Nice bit of Santa Cruz Bicycles media

Classic clip of SCB media propaganda...


Glimpses of Hans, John Brown, Nathan Loyd, sweet Santa Cruz singe track trails, even the old sender on the DeLaveaga disc golf course. Sweet.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

New duds

Aunt Bec yet again provides Faith with some sweet new duds for Fall weather. Thank you Aunt Bec


and a handfull of other lovely poses by Faith...

Thanksgiving pictures

My favorite:


Tuesday, December 1, 2009

On the grind

Weather is again heading towards the wet side of things. I can't complain. Just finished out November riding.
Pretty much a banner month:
- 17 out of 30 days I was on my bike
- about 150mi ridden
- Rode Wade Mtn for the first time in over a year
- managed one double-ride day

So yeah, bring on a bit of rain. I can take it. The garage and the house could use some tending to. Things tend to get a bit neglected when all spare time is spent on the bike.

The roof is done. Now we just have to juggle funds to pay for it. Insurance does this nice thing called depreciation where they don't give you enough money to pay the whole bill until the work is done. My initial response to said bill was a bit of sticker shock. The invoice came in about $2,000 over the initial estimate. While that doesn't sound like much it is about a 30% overshoot. Live and learn, the way the job was quoted I basically handed the roofer a blank check for the unseen damage. Looking over the insurance estimate though it is inline with the scope of work, so we should be able to get everything but the skylight covered. So initial sticker shock aside all is well.

Thanksgiving has come and gone in our household. Honestly without any direct family here the holiday is not a huge deal. I got out early for a turkeyday ride. Got back home about the time Erin and the kids were finishing showering up for the day. Then we stagnated for a bit and debated about what to do. We had thought about going to see a movie, but there really isn't much playing right now that is appropriate for both Faith and Austin. So we hit up the Blockbuster and rented a pile of movies. I grilled up dinner, which is turning into our Thanksgiving tradition. Somehow it is just easier. We get just as much relief in not having a huge cooking/cleaning mess as the joy of having the great food. So it works for us. Steaks, zucchini, salad, and croissants made everyone happy.

Otherwise business as usual.