Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Adventures in August

Now that the hut trip is done I can finally get the "Lee-side" caught up. Here are some of my adventurers from the month of August.

5430 Triathlon

Phoenix Multisport hosts an aid station every year at the 5430 Triathlon. This year we had a huge turn out. I positioned myself ahead of the aid station and handed out Hammer Gels. Being ahead of the aid station gave the triathletes time to eat the hammer gel then wash it down with some water. I was amazed at how finicky some of the racers were. They would come to a full stop, loosing valuable seconds, to pick out their favorite flavor. Food is nothing but fuel for me during races, I could give a rat's ass what it tastes like as long as it fuels me to the finish.









Russo-Steel Auto Auction

On the 15th I had a short overnight in Montery, CA. The hotel stayed in was hosting the Russo-Steel Auto Auctions. The sound of exotic exhaust notes lured me from my room. I didn't have any street clothes with me so I just wore my black slacks and pit-stained undershirt. It actually worked to my advantage as I looked like the "help" and was able to move through the hordes of ultra rich with impunity. It worked so well I was able to walk right into the main auction hall without a ticket, but I didn't want to push my luck so I quickly reversed course. Here are some crappy IPhone pics of what was there:

Porsche 911 GT3 RS







A Classic Bugatti



Ferrari Enzo







Veritas RS III






'67 Austin Martin DB6



Spyker









Electric Tesla Roadster





McClaren



Alfa Romeo



And my favorite a 64 Austin Healey 3000 in polished aluminum





Kenosha Pass

On the 15th Brandon drove down from Portland to race the Leadville 100. Jo, he and I all tried to win entries back in January, but he was the only one to get a slot. He killed the race finishing 68th out if 1500 people on only 2 hours of sleep and 3 hours of hypothermia guarding a good spot on the starting line. We met up and rode Kenosha Pass to Georgia Peak two days after the race. It was my first time riding it on the Superfly. I was amazed at how well it did. The only time I felt fatigued was at the bottom of the last tech section. Brandon, being the animal he is, insisted that we ride straight up a jeep trail to the highest point on Georgia Pass!

Kenosha Pass



Brandon Enjoying the View



Above Tree Line



At the Top



View from Georgia Pass



View from Glacier Peak



Riding Over Jefferson Creek


Missoula

Jo spent my birthday with me on an overnight in Missoula. We hung out downtown then met up with Jeff and his family for dinner. At 9:00pm we tubed the standing wave in the Clark Fork River in the dark. It was a perfect birthday!

My Hot Co-Pilot


Standing Wave on the Clark Fork River



Sailplane

My Mom came for a quick visit towards the end of the month. Jo got me a glider ride for my birthday. Jo and I crammed in the back of a Schweizer 2-32 glider and towed up to 10000 pinning off just north of Sugarloaf Mountain. We worked broken lift over the town of Gold Hill then split the peaks of the Flatirons on the way back to the airport. It was super fun, but I think hang gliding is more fun.

The Schweizer 2-32





On Tow



North Boulder Hang Gliding Site



Crammed in the Back



Gliding Over the Flat Irons



Video



On the Ground





Autumn

Later we headed to Hitch's for dinner. Jenny just gave birth to Autumn, she was less than a week old. We had a relaxing evening filled with pizza, stories, and of course the baby!









Yosemite

Last but not least I pulled off an epic speed run to meet up with Jeff and Adam in Yosemite National Park. I was on the ground for 25 hours, excluding the 12 minutes it took me to fly off Glacier Point across the valley from Half Dome. It was a dream come true made possible by the hard work of Jeff and site monitors Greg and Eric. This deserves and will get its own post; in the meantime heres a teasers.

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