3 Wheels, 3 Umbrellas

This rode in front of me on Baseline and Broadway in Boulder the other day. All 3 umbrellas rotated with the pedals. Yet another reason why I love Boulder - would you see this in your town???

Road de' La Sals

Last weekend Jo, Lisa, Doug, and I headed to Moab to honor my friend Dre's life and death with a memorial ride on the Porcupine Rim trail. It was his birthday weekend and a much needed chance for all of us to get away. We had an awesome time and there was much love and support to go around. The ride was a perfect mix of celebration and grieving, Kirstin couldn't have planned it better. At the end I rode a section of trail that I had only cleared once, but crashed hard on slickrock Sunday when my front tire failed (i.e. previous post).

The weather was perfect Saturday day followed by monsoonal rain during the night and then clearing up again on Sunday. The desert is transformed by the rain and I'm sure Dre wasn't going to let use get by without having a bit of an epic. I desperately wanted to take pictures of all the washes and waterfalls that have carved out the slickrock over the millenia, but it was dark and could not be seen. Instead, Jo and I laid in the tent and listened. As each cell moved over us the supreme quiet of the desert gave way to a symphony of rain pelting against the tent, wind gusting through the trees, and thunder echoing off canyon the walls. Needless to say I didn't get much sleep, at one point it was raining so hard I though the Colorado River was going to flood us out.

I wasn't in top photographic form on this trip so I don't have much to post, but I did get some shots on this ranch road leading up to the La Sals.

Road de' La Sals

Jo de' La Sals

Ouch I stubbed my Toe de' La Sals

Molly Dog de' La Sals

Dirty Shirt and Duck Tape de' La Sals

Chickas de' La Sals

Surfing de' La Sals

Crew de' La Sals

Triple Antibiotic Ointment

Some Spike Jonze Music Videos

When I lived with "MaryJames" (my favorite nickname for them), James used to pass down good Netflix movies to me. When I was recovering from my knee surgery last winter he gave me a DVD of director Spike Jonze's work including some music videos. It was awesome. Shawn reminded me of one last week, so I decided to post some of my favorites via YouTube.


Fatboy Slim, "Weapon of Choice" featuring Christopher Walken, one of the best music videos of all time. A little known fact - Christopher Walken was trained as a dancer before he became an actor, most of the moves in the video are his own.





Beastie Boys, "Sabotage", another all time favorite. There are a lot of cop show themes in the video, but Steve Mcqueen in Bullet stands out the most to me. Also, if you've seen my movie, a great soundtrack to crash hang gliders to!





FatLip, "What's up Fat Lip?" This is hilarious!! Not for kids though due to strong language.





Fatboy Slim, "Praise You". This is another hilarious music video that stands out because it is so different from the norm. The main character is Spike Jonze pretending to be the leader of the Torrance Dance group. I could see myself doing this! The looks on people's faces waiting in line to go into the movie are hysterical.

Dried Sweat and Butteryflies

I ran into this little guy on the Monarch Crest Trail back in July. He stopped by to have a taste of some dried sweat on my pack.

That map, in the picture above, was one of the best trail maps I've ever used except for one small problem. It Stunk! Bad!! It stunk so bad that I can still smell the funk in that pocket 3 months later. It was like the Seinfeld episode where the B.O. smell wouldn't leave Jerry's car. When we first looked at the map on top of a picnic table I thought that someone had urinated all over the table so we moved to another table, but it the smell didn't go away. As we left on our ride I felt like the smell was following me, almost as if it had come alive and jumped onto my back (where the map was stored). It took me about an hour of frantic paranoid sniffing to pin point the funk to the map. For the rest of the ride whenever we came to an intersection I would want to guess which way to go just so I didn't have to smell the map funk. This, like car doors and refrigerators, is one instance where having an extremely large nose just doesn't pay off.

Burn in Hell Crank Brothers Power Pump!

Several years ago Crank Brothers came out with a hand held bike pump that spit in the face of conventional designs. It was everything you want a portable bike pump to be, here is the description off ARGEAR.com:

"Only 93 Grams!
5.5" in Length
High Volume Mode
High Pressure Mode
Dual Head

Description: Crank Bros Power Pump dual piston technology makes it one of the world's smallest and lighest pumps, while pumping out as much air per stroke as many pumps over twice its size and weight. Only 5.5 inches and 3.3 ounces!
High volume mode fills large tires quickly. High pressure mode allows you to easily reach 100 psi! Switch between modes by simply turning a dial at the end of the handle.
Twin locking head easily and securely fits both Presta and Schader valves.
The Power Pump is light in your pack but is quick to get you back in the race."

I praise Crank Brothers for their ingenuity and leadership in improving the technology in the cycling industry. Carrying a pump that only weighs 3.3 ounces and easily fit's in my jersey pocket could make a difference in a race, especially a 24 hour race. Form must not compromise function though and this pump simply does not work. I, like many, others was enticed into buying this pump by the promises of it's minimalist design. I almost couldn't wait to get a flat to put it to use. Luckily or unluckily, I flat often so my chance would come soon. When it happened, I broke out my new weapon. I set it to high volume first, then high pressure, but after 200 plus pump strokes the only thing limper than my half inflated tire was my arm. There was barely enough air in the tire to keep the wheel rim off the rubber, which didn't matter anyway because my arm was so sore I didn't want to ride anymore. The $20 bucks I spent on the pump was the only thing that saved it from the trash can, it ended up in the gear bin as a spare.

The Power Pump's Dual Action

The story should end here, but it lives on in the many others that bought this pump, including Jo, Doug, and Ramine - the 3 people I ride with most often. This next story is one of the many times it failed me.

Jo and I went for a short ride on Marshal Mesa from the house last week. On the way to the trail head I noticed my cassette needed tightening so I told her to ride ahead while I headed back to the house to tighten it. She had our pump. I fixed my cassette and rode hard to catch her. About 30 min later as I crested a ridge I could see her climbing up the next ridge into the sunset. Perfect! I pushed hard on the downhill and kept in my middle ring on the climb to close the gap. I was within a 1/4 mile when I felt a looseness in the bike's rear end that could only mean one thing. As I slowed down the hissing sound coming from under my seat confirmed my worst fears. The sound of hissing faded to crumbling rock under deflating rubber as my heart beat slowed.

The sun was low over the Rockies and Jo couldn't hear my screams for help as she slowly disappeared over the ridge. Never to worry, surely the couple of people I passed on the way would catch up and lend a pump. The first guy took only 5 minutes and surely enough he sported my nemesis the power pump. I thanked him, but didn't even bother. The next guy said he didn't have a pump, but I think he was mad at me for passing him! The sun was now gone and I was getting cold, I would use what ever pump the next guy had. He happened to be out riding with his son and said he would be happy to lend a pump, but not for long because they were late for dinner. The suspense was agonizing as he fiddled through his pack searching for the pump. I had my fingers crossed behind my back, "Please don't be a power pump, please..." I thought. When he pulled out his power pump I strained a muscle in my face trying to maintain the fake smile I had on. It was dark, I was cold, and I had a time limit to inflate my tire. After 20 minutes the tire still looked as flat as a Denny's pancake and my good samaritan was late for dinner. Time up! I was considered walking out to the road and hitchhiking back to the house when one last rider came into view. He had a pump and it was awesome! It looked like something you'd blow up an inflatable couch with, but it worked great. I rode hard and found Jo lovingly waiting for me two gates away. I decided this would be the last time the Power Pump would fail me, it deserved a worse fate than being in a gear bin as a spare.

Sweet flames of justice!

Kick me once it's your fault, kick me twice it's my fault. I now run tubeless tires!

Z3 Homecoming '07

Every year over Labor Day weekend BMW holds a reunion for all Z3, Z4, and X5 at it's production plant in Spartanburg, SC. All Z3's (including the M Coupe) were produced there between 1996 and 2002. Here are some pics from some fellow Z3 owners who went.

People come from all over the country, this guy made the trek from California with his custom Z3 trailer.

The Spartanburg plant is BMW's only North American production facility, it's 4500 employees produce the Z4 series and X5 sport utility vehicle. The Homecoming included an performance driving course and an off road course for the X5's, which is funny because I'm sure those X5 owners are always off-roading!!

The plant also houses a Museum. Here's an M Coupe racecar. Drool...

M Coupes New and Old

Phoenix Yellow next to Imola Red M Coupes. Phoenix Yellow is my favorite color, but also one of the rarest, in my year of searching I couldn't find one.

Giant Padded Sumo Suits

What could be more fun than giant padded Sumo Suits?

Jodi and Neal decided to include a pair along with a padded ring at their wedding reception in Monterrey. As I ate and mingled my way through the evening, I was eyeing the sumo suits, waiting for the right moment to give them a go. When that moment came hilarity ensued.

My first opponent was Darin. He beat me with surgical precision in a 2 to 3 bout in less than five minutes. His technique was perfect. He said it was the first time he had ever donned a giant padded sumo suit, but I have my suspicions. After Darin, I tried to find an easy opponent to redeem myself with a victory. Anthony, who came all the way from Australia, was jet lagged and moderately intoxicated, a sure win I thought - Not so! He proceeded kick my ass, 2 out of 3 again. Here are two videos Darin took with his cell phone. Sorry for the poor quality, but they are hilarious.

Allow me to narrate. In the video above, notice how Anthony dodged my attack perfectly with a 180 degree roll and then followed with a full body slam including another 180 degree roll. Well done sir, well done... In the next video I tried changing my technique to short burst attacks. Anthony skillfully rebuked my attacks as he insidiously drew me to the edge of the ring for the take down. The video doesn't show it but he followed with another lung crushing body slam.

Also, notice the heroic father snatching his daughter out of harm's way at the last minute in the lower right hand side of the screen. She would have faced certain death, being crushed by my giant-padded-sumo-suit-laden body hurdling towards her.

I learned a lot from my giant padded sumo suit experience. Overconfidence and arrogance were my down fall, yet another disturbing parallel to the Bush Administration (see this post). I underestimated my skilled and intoxicated opponents and was humiliated as a result. I've been running hourly searches of Craigslist all over the country in hopes of finding a cheap pair. If I find a pair, I'll buy them and practice for hours everyday in hopes of one day redeeming my honor...

Oh and by the way, CONGRATULATIONS Jodi and Neal! I wish you the best in your future together.